DRDO, PSU and Private Defence Sector News

[roma]

pardon me to add one more - that let's not label it as a failed organization cos there still are some good guys in there - the downright corrupt need to be weeded out and the less efficient need to improve and it will be a good organization ?

 

[sesha_maruthi27]

Atlast we see that during the UPA regime corruption has seeped through all the walls including defence forces and defence related organisations and money is being laundered in HUGE AMOUNTS for which there is no account .........

 

[Daredevil]

Achievements of DRDO

There are 50 laboratories functioning under Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). At present, there is no proposal to set up new laboratory under DRDO.

DRDO is primarily engaged in design and development of strategic, complex and security sensitive systems for the Armed Forces. During the last five years, a large number of DRDO developed systems have been productionised and inducted into Armed Forces and many are in the process of trials / production / induction, which include missiles; multi-barrel rocket launcher; unmanned aerial vehicles; radars; electronic warfare systems; sonars; torpedos; combat vehicles; bridging systems; combat aircraft; sensors; NBC technologies; parachutes; combat free fall system; propellants and explosives; detonators; communication systems; etc.

Many systems developed by DRDO for the Armed Forces during the last five years can also be used for civilian applications. These include composite materials; steels; computing systems; kits for detection of swine flue, malaria, typhoid, leptospirosis, dengue, chickengunia; lucoskin ointment to cure luecoderma; water poison detection kit; mosquitoes repellent; parachutes; stent; ready to eat food items; textile and clothing items; unmanned vehicles; riot control vehicles; bullet proof vehicles; night vision devices; laser dazzler, survival kits; bio-digesters; integrated shelters; fire retardant materials / equipment; emergency escape chute; walking robot;snow gallery; lubricants; paints; fuel cells; etc.

This information was given by Minister of Defence Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri P.K. Bijuin Lok Sabha today.

 

[LurkerBaba]

The secret world of DRDO

India is at war. Tejas fighters wheel over a smoke dark battleground, taking down enemy aircraft with their superior radar and missile capabilities. Lower still, Indian-designed helicopters are giving hell to enemy armour and troop formations with missiles and machine-gun fire. On the ground, mighty Arjun tanks lumber slowly across dunes, sure of their inpenetrable Kanchan armour even as they spew death through their 120 mm guns. Jawans crouch and advance with the tanks, firing three-round bursts from their INSAS rifles and lobbing bhut jholokia grenades at their foes. They are tireless, having imbibed performance-enhancing pills, and well-fed, having had spoil-proof parathas and self-heated packaged meals before battle.

This is what a DRDO dream looks like. However, a nightmare was revealed recently when Defence Minister A K Antony ordered the Comptroller General of Defence Audit (CGDA) to do a secret audit of India's equivalent of the futuristic workshop of James Bond's 'Q' — the Defence Research and Development Organisation that goes by the handle DRDO.

The highlights of the report are frightening. Here are some of them:

* DRDO has been developing equipment which is either sub-standard or have extended deadlines and additional budgets;

* Many of the projects have been sanctioned without the requisite government approval. Only 10 per cent of projects have come to the ministry for clearance;

* Corruption and nepotism exists in the upper echelons;

* There is an exodus of qualified scientists;

The CGDA audit findings raise serious questions on the capability of this defence outfit, which has an annual budget of Rs 10,500 crore. Established in 1958, it has a network of 52 laboratories nationwide, employing 5,000 scientists with about 25,000 support staff. But only 29 per cent of the products developed during the last 17 years are being used by the Armed Forces. The audit notes that in several cases, DRDO bought equipment from other companies after spending crores on R&D. For instance, the CGDA found that after spending two years and Rs 29.96 crore to develop satellite signal monitoring, DRDO ultimately bought the same from a public sector undertaking on a single tender basis for Rs 24.50 crore in April 2011. "

The CGDA report criticised the 'joint development' technology initiative of DRDO, calling it "import of older, foreign technology under the disguise of joint development."[/B] The CGDA accused DRDO of promoting Israeli company M/S SCD without the mandatory formal transfer of technology agreement. Commenting on a DRDO deal to develop a higher format uncooled detector, the CGDA said: "DRDO shall be financing the development expenditure of `19.90 crore by releasing it direct to M/S SCD Israel. Basically, instead of doing development itself, DRDO is funding a foreign agency's development effort, that too, without any explicit arrangements being finalised about ownership of intellectual property generated from such financing," noted the CGDA. "Neither the production agency nor the users — mechanised forces of army — have been kept in the loop," the CGDA report says.

The audit also stated that the institute lacked expert manpower, and started recruitment only after getting DRDO funds that were released without due diligence. A Dehradun scientific lab was granted Rs 14 crore to develop a communication link, while the institute headed by Saraswat was also sanctioned Rs 2.98 crore to develop the same technology — it doesn't have even basic facilities like computers for individual researchers. "It shows that the radar development project is being split in different parts to avoid going to the ministry and users with a proper full scope development programme," the CGDA said. The DRDO understandably refutes the findings. "These are only observations. The laid down procedure of audit was not followed, and it was issued without authorisation. It is a one-sided report. We will give a point by point reply of audit findings. DRDO has achieved several milestones and that nobody is talking about, " retorted Dr Ravi Gupta, DRDO's official spokesperson. However, the CGDA report says that DRDO has tried to camouflage its failures in the name of secrecy and national security.

Says Commodore (Retd) Uday Bhaskar, former head of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), "The Government is not willing to discuss the Rama Rao committee report that talks about reforming DRDO. It shows that they are not serious about the decaying of a government institution, which in the last 30 to 40 years has completely disappointed the users. Money is being spent without any effect on indigenous programmes. I will appeal to Indian Parliament to take this matter and discuss the issue."

DRDO took up a project for development of counter mine flail (CMF) for T-72 tanks at a cost of `8 crore in December 2002. CMF is a device that creates a safe passage through a minefield by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that it is mounted on. Army HQ revised the requirement in 2004, but DRDO continued with the old parameters and in 2008, the product failed tests. In spite of this, it was not closed and in February 2011, another new project costing Rs 49.85 crore was sanctioned for the same CMF project.

Meanwhile, there has been a huge exodus of scientists from the agency. Last year, 86 scientists took VRS. Says Gen Karim, "The functioning of DRDO is improper. In the next five years, the difference between our adversaries and us would be glaring. The MoD is not serious about reforming DRDO. A national blueprint is required for this."

Rifle recoil: The mass produced INSAS rifle, meant to be the main rifle for the Indian Army has been known to malfunction in extreme conditions. The first known debacle was on August 7, 2005. As the evening shadows grew longer at the Royal Nepal Army's Pili camp in western Kalikot district, about 550 km northwest of capital Kathmandu, Maoist fighters massed silently outside. The roads connecting the camp that housed about 200 soldiers — mostly employed in the construction of a new highway — had been mined. A little before 6 pm, over 1,000 Maoists attacked the camp. Armed with INSAS rifles, the Nepalese soldiers fought back, but in vain. By 4 pm, the Maoists had captured 100 soldiers, and executed 40 of them. Nepal blamed INSAS malfunctions for the disaster: "The rifles are okay if you fight for an hour or two, but are not appropriate for long battles. If we had better weapons, our casualties would have been much less," said a Nepal government spokesman. In November 2011, the Ministry of Defence issued a tender for 66,000 assault rifles to replace the INSAS. The MoD wanted the new rifles to be able to switch calibres between the small, high-velocity 5.56 mm rounds the INSAS fires and the devastatingly powerful 7.62 mm rounds of the older FAL rifles.

The story of this short-lived rifle epitomises the drift in the way the DRDO works, and also between it and the armed forces. The DRDO took a decade to design the INSAS. A few years later, it was supplied to the Army throughout the later half of the 1990s. But the Army did not put all its eggs in the desi basket; it bought 100,000 AK-47s from Bulgaria in 1995 for its frontline units in Kashmir. The INSAS began rolling off the lines soon after, at a cost several times that of the Kalashnikov. When war broke out in Kargil in 1999, INSASs jammed; the transparent polymer magazines cracked. Its ammunition-conserving three-round burst went virally fully automatic. An oil spray glitch was detected. By 2002, the Army had ordered the Israeli Tavor 21 rifle for its special forces and the Galil for its snipers. This year, the Special Forces will induct US-made M-4 rifles, the Vietnam-era M-16's newer version that US soldiers now use in Afghanistan. "DRDO products are half imported and half prepared here, which is dangerous. Defence is too serious business to be left to one party. It is the user — our armed forces — who will decide which product is useful. DRDO cannot claim success of a product sitting in the workshop," says Gen Karim.

Air disaster: In the early 1980s, the Indian Air Force was over-reliant on Soviet-made MiG-21s, which would be phased out, beginning in the mid-90s. In 1984, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), a national consortium of over 100 defence laboratories, industrial organisations, and academic institutions with HAL being the principal contractor, was created specifically to manage the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme. The DRDO was to develop the plane's flight control system, hi-tech radar, and engine. DRDO delivered on the flight control system. However, the radar was the one that was to be developed by Ericsson and Ferranti Defence Systems Integration for the Gripen, a topline Swedish fighter plane. DRDO decided to develop the radar at home, and started in 1997. In 10 years, cost escalations, delays and other serious problems grounded the project, which is now being developed with help from the Elta group, an Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary. Kaveri, the engine of the LCA — christened Tejas by former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee — was to be developed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment, Bangalore using prototypes made by General Electrics, USA. By 2003, it had to be abandoned for an upgraded version of the GE engine used in the prototypes selected to power the first pre-production Tejas.

The Kaveri had, in the meantime, failed high-altitude tests carried out in Russia, and by 2008, was officially declared unsuitable. GE was selected to provide 99 engines that were even better than the ones used in the first LCAs. Mysteriously, 15 actuators of the aircraft that were part of the LCA's integrated flight control system went missing in December 2008 from Heathrow, London. The Tejas has flown, and well, but with an Israeli radar and American engine.

The Kaveri programme alone cost the nation about Rs 2,800 crore over 23 years; the cost overrun of the entire LCA programme is estimated at about 3,000 per cent.

Tanked hopes: It took 35 years to make India's main battle tank Arjun. In 1974, DRDO's Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment at Chennai started designing the tank expected to be ready for war in 10 years. The Arjun was to weigh 40 tonnes with a 105 mm main gun. By the time it was finished in 2000, the tank had grown in size to 58.5 tonnes with a 120 mm gun that can fire rockets. In terms of cost overrun, the Arjun is the champion of delay and drift: it has cost 20 times the initial estimate to make an Indian tank with a German engine. It is so big that ordinary Indian rail wagons, the ones that have been transporting our older Soviet- and British-origin tanks had to be redesigned to accommodate its bulk. Military planners say bridges will collapse under Arjun's weight. The Army and DRDO have been at loggerheads over the Arjun. Field tests have varied wildly: some have given the Arjun a junk rating, and others say it's the best thing to have happened to the Armoured Corps. The tank is a 'jugaad' queen. South African howitzers have been mated to its chassis to make a self-propelled field gun that DRDO calls Bhima. The army will, at last, add to its ranks about 250-odd Arjuns, and 1,000 T-90s. The next Indian tank, the Futuristic MBT, may well come from a joint initiative with Russia.

As the MoD prepares to review DRDO's financial procedures, the news is not all bad on the achievement front. Last week, the 350-km range surface-to-surface Prithvi II missile was successfully flight tested at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur in Odissa. Saraswat, a multitude of rings embedded with various stones flashing on his fingers celebrated by feeding laddoos to the army commander present. However, the question for him is, after the ministry's review, what's for just desserts.

The secret world of DRDO - The New Indian Express

 

[p2prada]

DRDO has always been a black hole for money.

The report highlights some of the things already known.

 

[mahesh]

DRDO did not change from it's traditional approach, still some 3 decades lagging behind

 

[Ray]

The secret world of DRDO - The New Indian Express

This is actually the experience faced.

They reinvent the wheel and even when that is not good enough, they go on and on.

They do believe in Try, Try, Try Again, but sadly they don't usually have a happy ending of having succeeded!

The report highlights some of the things already known.

But never admitted to!

 

[p2prada]

But never admitted to!

They will lose all credibility if they did. Look at their response:

"These are only observations. The laid down procedure of audit was not followed, and it was issued without authorisation. It is a one-sided report. We will give a point by point reply of audit findings. DRDO has achieved several milestones and that nobody is talking about, " retorted Dr Ravi Gupta, DRDO's official spokesperson.

They only try to hide behind a handful of successful projects.

Real fact:

However, the CGDA report says that DRDO has tried to camouflage its failures in the name of secrecy and national security.

 

[Ray]

DRDO could have done marvels.

But they have proved to be another PSU.

Sort of Commandos in a way - they are living off the land.

This babu mentality will never wash off their back.

They could not even design a Mobile Field Cooking Lorry when these are available in Armies all over the world and there are so many such lorries in the US which double as fast food mobile shops that all can see in the various TV porogrammes on TLC!!

 

[p2prada]

DRDO could have done marvels.

But they have proved to be another PSU.

Sort of Commandos in a way - they are living off the land.

This babu mentality will never wash off their back.

Any ideas on where they can improve or change their approach to things based on your own experience with DRDO?

 

[Shaitan]

ARDC launched the first metal cut for HAL Turbo-prop Trainer (HTT)-40 aircraft on August 22, 2012. The program is governed by strict time frame and ARDC is all geared-up to meet the challenge. Key achievements include completion of Preliminary Design Phase (PDP), finalization of Numerical Master Geometry (NMG), Completion of Preliminary Wind Tunnel Testing, Design of major frames and system finalization.

HAL Turbo-prop Trainer (HTT)-40 aircraft first metal cut

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Ganesh2691]

37 oldies of DRDO cling on to jobs post retirement

Dozens of top scientists at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are working on extended tenures despite the government disfavouring the policy of retaining officers or specialists after their retirement.

According to guidelines, tenures can be extended only in "exceptional circumstances". The DRDO, however, justifies the extensions, saying only valued experts whose replacements are not easy to find are given the privilege.

In response to an RTI query, sought by Rajeev Chauhan of Meerut, the DRDO released a list of 37 scientists – 12 of them in the distinguished category – who are working on extended tenures.

This was disclosed only after the intervention of the chief information commissioner following an appeal. Defence scientists retire at the age of 60.

The department of personnel and training (DoPT) rules for extension of specialists in the medical and scientific fields mention the problems in giving such experts extra tenure.

"Not only does the next man miss promotion but often several people miss consequential promotions all along the hierarchy," the department noted.

Keeping this in mind, procedures were evolved to ensure that extensions to the superannuating scientists are resorted to only in really exceptional circumstances, the guidelines said.

The main conditions are that the "retiring specialist should not just be one of the outstanding officers but is really head and shoulders above the rest, or the other specialists are not ripe enough to take over the job".

The DRDO, however, claims that while it largely adheres to the DoPT rules, they are not strictly applicable to the strategic community which also includes ISRO and atomic energy. Sources said the DRDO has 7,000 scientists out of which extension to 37-odd experts is "minuscule".

The DRDO follows merit-based flexible complementing scheme for promotions which is not linked to availability of vacancies, they said.

They feel that most people at 60 are still active and gain substantial wealth of experience in highly specialised areas that needs to be tapped.

Some big names are on extended terms and are vital to the success of their respective programmes.

Topping the list is Avinash Chander, chief controller of missiles and strategic system, who is steering the long range strategic missiles programme.

The list of 37 scientists includes 12 distinguished scientists, 13 scientists "H" and remaining 12 scientists "G".

While detractors allege that extensions indicate a system of favouritism, the DRDO says every case passes through two expert panels which approve the move.

37 oldies of DRDO cling on to jobs post retirement | idrw.org

 

[bhramos]

Odies of DRDO cling on to jobs post retirement

Dozens of top scientists at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are working on extended tenures despite the government disfavouring the policy of retaining officers or specialists after their retirement.
According to guidelines, tenures can be extended only in "exceptional circumstances".
The DRDO, however, justifies the extensions, saying only valued experts whose replacements are not easy to find are given the privilege.


In response to an RTI query, sought by Rajeev Chauhan of Meerut, the DRDO released a list of 37 scientists - 12 of them in the distinguished category - who are working on extended tenures.
This was disclosed only after the intervention of the chief information commissioner following an appeal. Defence scientists retire at the age of 60.
The department of personnel and training (DoPT) rules for extension of specialists in the medical and scientific fields mention the problems in giving such experts extra tenure.
"Not only does the next man miss promotion but often several people miss consequential promotions all along the hierarchy," the department noted.
Keeping this in mind, procedures were evolved to ensure that extensions to the superannuating scientists are resorted to only in really exceptional circumstances, the guidelines said.
The main conditions are that the "retiring specialist should not just be one of the outstanding officers but is really head and shoulders above the rest, or the other specialists are not ripe enough to take over the job".
The DRDO, however, claims that while it largely adheres to the DoPT rules, they are not strictly applicable to the strategic community which also includes ISRO and atomic energy. Sources said the DRDO has 7,000 scientists out of which extension to 37-odd experts is "minuscule".
The DRDO follows merit-based flexible complementing scheme for promotions which is not linked to availability of vacancies, they said.

They feel that most people at 60 are still active and gain substantial wealth of experience in highly specialised areas that needs to be tapped.
Some big names are on extended terms and are vital to the success of their respective programmes.
Topping the list is Avinash Chander, chief controller of missiles and strategic system, who is steering the long range strategic missiles programme.
The list of 37 scientists includes 12 distinguished scientists, 13 scientists "H" and remaining 12 scientists "G".
While detractors allege that extensions indicate a system of favouritism, the DRDO says every case passes through two expert panels which approve the move.


Read more: 37 oldies of Defence Research and Development Organisation cling on to jobs post retirement | Mail Online

 

[Apollyon]

^ That's a bullshit article, retaining these specialists is actually a good thing (albeit for few more years) and should be hired as consultants after their retirement.

 

[bhramos]

Business Line : News / Science : Akash missile project director dead

 

[sayareakd]

Business Line : News / Science : Akash missile project director dead

RIP.........................Ramprasad Ramakrishna Panyam.

Akash is good missile for India.

 

[Sridhar]

Indian scientists devise unique radiation-decontamination wipes

They look like the facial wipes available in the market, but what makes them different is that they are meant to clean off radioactive material from the body during a nuclear disaster. Developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the unique decontamination wipe is catching the attention of vendors who cater to NATO forces.

Scientists working on it claim the wipe, developed at the DRDO Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) here, can remove over 95 percent of the contamination.

At Rs.10 (20 cents), the 5cm x 5cm wipe – the size of a face wipe – is easy to use and dispose of.

According to the scientists, these decontamination wipes will be useful for people working in nuclear plants and those living around them, as also during any nuclear disaster like what happened at Fukushima in Japan.

"This is one-of-a-kind product not known to have been developed by anyone else," R.K. Sharma of INMAS's CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) division, told IANS in an interview.

INMAS has already received a request from British-based Branco Diagnostics and an Indian company, Novel, for transfer of technology for mass production of the decontamination wipes.

An email from the Branco Diagnotics in October said: "We understand that you are developing radiation decontamination wipes and have completed efficacy studies and skin safety studies under the Drug and Cosmetics Act 1940."

"We are interested to take this technology from your organisation for commercializing the same. Branco produces reactive skin decontamination lotion (which removes chemical warfare agents), which is used by the US Department of Defense and military forces in NATO countries," the letter said.

Indian scientists devise unique radiation-decontamination wipes

 

[cloud_9]

10 per cent disinvestment in HAL proposal before Cabinet tomorrow

A proposal for disinvestment of 10 per cent of government equity in the country's only state-owned aerospace firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is likely to considered by the Union Cabinet tomorrow.
The government expects to raise at least Rs 2500 crore by divesting 10 per cent from the company having 100 per cent shareholding in it, sources said.

The disinvestment proposal has been mooted before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs amid government's plans to modernise the company for which Rs 20,000 crore would be required over next five years.

The HAL along with eight other PSUs is under the Defence Ministry but the proposals for diluting government equity in them are moved by the Department of Disinvestment only.

The government had set up expert groups under former Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi for the restructuring of the HAL and is awaiting its report for suggesting measures for strengthening it.

HAL is at present handling key projects for the Indian armed forces such as the development of the Tejas light combat aircraft, Dhruv advanced light helicopters, indigenous production of Russian-origin Su-30MKI fighter planes.

It is preparing to handle future projects such as the indigenous production of medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) and fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), light utility helicopters and multi-role transport aircraft (MTA).

HAL would also be involved in the production of 108 multirole combat aircraft for the IAF which are expected to cost the exchequer more than Rs 60,000 crore.

 

[rahulrds1]

Bharat Electronics produces DRDO developed Microwave Power Module for Radars and Electronic Warfare systems

Indian Public Sector Unit, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), has delivered a Microwave Power Module, which has been developed by Microwave Tube Research & Development Centre (MTRDC), a laboratory of the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO). This compact RF Power Module is capable of giving continuous RF Power in very wide frequency band and could be used as transmitter for naval defence and civilian radars, communication and Electronic Warfare systems.

Dr Lalit Kumar, Outstanding Scientist and Director, MTRDC said that the development of traveling wave tubes, klystron and MPM made by MTRDC will cause huge saving in foreign exchange and help in self-reliance in critical items of defence. He also highlighted the future plans in Terahertz devises.

DRDO Microwave Power Module MCS 3550M Bharat Electronics produces DRDO developed Microwave Power Module for Radars and Electronic Warfare systems

DRDO Microwave Power Module MCS-3550M:

"The future warfare will be fought remotely and contactless, without using conventional weapons but instead using Directed Energy Weapons" said Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, while addressing the scientists and engineers at Bharat Electronics Complex, Jalahalli, Bengaluru. He emphasized the need to develop High Power Microwave (HPM), High Power Laser (HPL), Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) and Terahertz devices.

80 W Microwave Power Module (MPM) for Ship-borne EW, 120 W X- band Pulsed MPM for Ground based radar, 100 W Ku-band CW MPM transmitter for satellite datalink and 100 W broadband CW transmitter for airborne EW are the MPM products developed by the Lab. MTRDC has been granted a Patent on 'An impregnant cathode composition and process for preparing the same'.

Bharat Electronics produces DRDO developed Microwave Power Module for Radars and Electronic Warfare systems