DRDO, PSU and Private Defence Sector News

[Abhi9]

EOFCS for Naval Ships: All six numbers of EOFCS (EON-51) have been realised and delivered to
Indian Navy. These systems have been installed on P-17 and R-class of ships as well as two shore
installation.

Electro-Optical Fire Control System for MBT Arjun Mk-II: All sub-systems of Integrated Fire Control
System, i.e., Gunner's Main Sight (GMS), Fire Control Computer, Commander's Panoramic Sight
(CPS), and Laser Target Designator (LTD) equipment were successfully trial-evaluated through Lahat
missile firing during User's field trials of MBT Arjun Mk-I
EOFCS for Naval Ships: All six numbers of EOFCS (EON-51) have been realised and delivered to
Indian Navy. These systems have been installed on P-17 and R-class of ships as well as two shore
installations.
GMS Mk-II FCC Mk-II
CPS Mk-II EON-51
Lightweight Portable Laser Target Designator
On the basis of field trials and the Model Evaluation Tools and Quality Assurance (QA) evaluation,
Lightweight Portable Laser Target Designator (LWPLTD) for IAF has been found to be compliant with
American Systems Registrar (ASR) and recommended for induction into Service with the production
agency M/s BEL.
Helmet Mounted Thermal Imaging Camera
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has procured 20 units of IRDE-developed helmetmounted thermal imaging camera from M/s HBL, Hyderabad. All 20 units were evaluated and delivered
to NDRF for their disaster help activities.

Commander's Non-Panoramic Thermal ImagingSight
ToT for production of Thermal Imaging (TI)-based Commander Sights for combat vehicles to OFB
and BEL has been cleared for Commander TI Mk II sights for T-72, Commander TI sights for T-90 and
Commander TI sights for BMP-II

Signal Intelligence System
DLRL has developed an advanced signal intelligence system 'DivyaDrishti' for the Defence Services,
with the aim of interception, monitoring, direction finding, analysis, and recording of airborne-and-ground
based communication signals. The system installation at 25 static stations and at four mobile stationshas been completed.All the stations are integrated over a secure satellite communication network. The
complete integrated system has been made operational and is under user exploitation.
ESM S

Samudrika
DRDO has undertaken indigenous development of a family of seven EW systems customised for
different platforms as per Naval Staff Qualitative Requirements (NSQR). Navy has given commitment for
further production and induction of these systems. PDR for all the seven systems has been completed.
System installation feasibility studies and RF mapping on identified platforms have been carried out.
Configurations of all systems have been finalised and sub-systems development is in progres
Various projects of Samudrika programme
Girishakti
Indian Army is in the process of procurement of integrated EW system for mountainous terrain
(Himshakti) under the category 'Buy Indian (BEL) with DRDO Technologies'. Development of target
tracking system for Jammer Interceptor Mobile (JIM) station has been completed. Development of
COM entity software is in progress. Core system technology modules incorporating homodyne Rx,
Quad Superhet Rx, Digital Rx in radar segment have been integrated for demonstration of performance
in microwave bands. Fast scan Rx, monitor receiver in communication bands have been configured for
detection of conventional frequency hopping signals

Himraj
The role of the Himraj is to intercept, monitor, analyse, and locate adversary's radar transmission
in 70 MHz to 40 GHz band. DRDO is responsible for the system design, development of critical subsystems, and realisation of a truncated reference version of the engineered system for Ground Base
Mobile ELINT System (GBMES), which are being pursued towards production at BEL. The entire
system configuration has been finalised and realisation of engineered system is in progres

 

[Abhi9]

Excerpts continued....

Primary Radar for Airborne Early Warning and Control System
Primary radar for airborne early warning and control system has been integrated with mission
system computer and tested on roof-top test set-up. The radar performance has been evaluated using
this roof-top set-up with multiple opportune and dedicated sorties, and found to meet the specifiations
such as range azimuth coverage, accuracies, resolution, etc.The hardware and software of the system
have been qualifid and the system has been certifid to fl on aircraft. The qualifid radar system has
been installed and integrated on aircraft. Radar testing on the aircraft has commenced and opportune
targets were tracked.

Synthetic Aperture Radar for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is integrated and tested at radar test platform deployed with SOFT
qualifid hardware.Opportune targets were detected and tracked up to 40 km range in GMTITWS
mode. SAR concept has been successfully proven using Rail SAR methodology using corner reflctors
as targets. Design and fabrication of lightweight version of antenna, digital unitand antenna stabilisation
unit have been completed for UAV.

Medium Power Radar Arudhra
Prototype of medium power radar, Arudhra, has been developed and demonstrated to the User,
i.e., IAF at Kasauli. Antenna pressurisation system, pedestal assembly and power system of the main
radar have qualifid EMI/EMC tests.
MPR Arudhra

Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar Uttam
DRDO has taken up the development of flght control radar for fihter aircraft with 100 km range
and multimode operation. Realisation and calibration of prototype Active Aperture Array Antenna Unit
(AAAU) has been completed with indigenous TR modules. Airworthy radar processor and exciterreceiver have been realised and tested on a high rise platform in Mechanical Scanned Array (MSA)
confiuration for validation of various algorithms and waveforms of the fie control radar. Software
development for air-air sub-modes has been carried out

Mega advancements in microwave technology

Notable Achievements
Ku-Band MPM-based Transmitter for Airborne Radar
Under this project, design and development of a 330W mini-helix TWT and a transmitter using this
TWT to deliver 300W peak output powers up to 30 per cent duty cycle was taken up. Design of TWT
and transmitter has been completed.First prototype of the 330W TWT has been developed and has met
the RF performance over the desired band of operation at duty cycle up to 20 per cent. This TWT has
been integrated with microwave power module (MPM) based transmitter and tested up to 10 per cent
duty cycle of operation and met most of the critical specifications
300 W mini-TWT
G-Band CCTWT for Weapon Locating Radar
First prototype TWT has been developed jointly with BEL, Bengaluru. This tube has given 35 kW at
0.1 per cent duty. Advance cooling technique has been designed to achieve operation of TWT at 5 per
cent duty cycle. This is being integrated in the second prototype being developed at BEL, Bengaluru.
The various sub-systems of the second prototype have been made and are being integrated.
77
G-band CCTWT first prototype tub
300 W C-X-Ku-Band Helix TWT
This TWT has to deliver 300W of output power in CW mode over 6-18 GHz frequency band. Design
of all sub-systems has been completed. 3-D EM simulation and thermal analysis of various subsystems, i.e., SWS, couplers, electron gun, and collector of TWT have been completed. Fabrication of
piece parts has been completed and development of sub-assemblies is under progress.
MPM for EW-POD
The development of MPM is proposed to be carried out jointly with BEL. This is a high gain (50
dB), wideband (C-Ku Band), light weight (< 3 kg), high efficiency (~25 per cent), CW, 100 W and
phase matched microwave power module (MPM). This is being developed for heli-borne systems.
First indigenous micro-TWT for this microwave power module(MPM) is under testing. The PCBs for
Electronic Power Conditioners (EPC) has been designed and is being made.
Transmitter for Satellite Data Link for Rustom–II
Under this project Ku-band MPM-based transmitter for satellite data link has been developed. A
lab prototype has been made and tested. Based on this, a modified MPM has been designed. Design
of chassis and its thermal management has been completed. Linearised TWT has been received and
tested for its specifications. Development of chassis and Integration of MPM is under progress
Multi-beam Klystron(MBK)
150 W Ku-band MBK: One prototype has been assembled with imported cathode. RF testing of this
tube have been carried out and it has delivered a maximum RF power of ~175 W at 17.15 GHz with
3 dB bandwidth of 45 MHz. High duty testing is also carried out where stable 150W output power with
cooling and 60 s without cooling aremeasured.
400 W Ku-Band MBK: Two prototype tubes have been assembled jointly with M/s ALMAZ at Saratov,
Russia. Both the tubes have delivered more than 400 W output power over 60 MHz bandwidth. Both
tubes meet the electrical and environmental specifications up to 10 per cent duty
Production Orders Placed/Systems Accepted
S-band CC TWT for Rohini and Revathi Radar under LSP
This is a coupled cavity type TWT being used in three-dimensional central acquisition radar
transmitters (3-D CAR transmitter variant of Rohini, Revathi, and TCR). One prototype tube has been
developed and tested under LSP at M/s BEL, Bengaluru. Packaging of first tube and development of
second prototype tube is at hand.
Advance Jammer Technologies, Sarwagna
A highly advanced compact 100 W continuous wave (CW)/pulsed broadband microwave power
module (MPM) with high pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and very low throughput delay has been
78
developed for Naval EW system. A LSP of 20 MPMs has been completed with M/s BEL, Bengaluru.
The MPMs have been qualified for electrical and ESS tests and later delivered to DLRL, Hyderabad. All
the MPMs have been tested again at DLRL and then successfully integrated with the system.
Microwave power module for naval
electronic warfare system
MPM for Flight Level Radar/Troop Level Radar
A pulsed MPM for the Flight-level Radar (FLR) is under production at BEL, Bengaluru. A variant
of this MPM for Troop-level Radar (TLR) has been made with stringent EMI/EMC specifications
and has met all the User specifications. The production of 12 numbers of FLR-MPM and
2 numbers of TLR-MPM has been completed and delivered to the user.
Microwave power module for flight level radar

 

[Free Karma]

Guys...many news channels saying DRDO Chief has been sacked!
[tweet]555017353239355393[/tweet]

 

[ezsasa]

Guys...many news channels saying DRDO Chief has been sacked!

Yup , looks like he is going out 15 months ahead of schedule, i thought he was supposed to stay till March end 2015.
Either way we will have to wait for the complete story to come out.

 

[kaustav2001]

DRDO Chief and Architect of Agni Missiles Avinash Chander Sacked
Not much info out in the open - DRDO Chief and Architect of Agni Missiles Avinash Chander Sacked

What gives ???

 

[DingDong]

I found this on another forum:

 

[roma]

DRDO Chief and Architect of Agni Missiles Avinash Chander Sacked
Not much info out in the open - DRDO Chief and Architect of Agni Missiles Avinash Chander Sacked

What gives ???

Yup , looks like he is going out 15 months ahead of schedule, i thought he was supposed to stay till March end 2015.
Either way we will have to wait for the complete story to come out.

Guys...many news channels saying DRDO Chief has been sacked!

some references :-
(1) (a) World won&rsquo;t wait for you, PM Narendra Modi tells laggard DRDO - The Times of India

(b) Times Of India | Blogs

(2) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...der-appear-before-ED/articleshow/44808318.cms

nevertheless, let us continue to be respectful and cautious in saying that Dr Do has superbly qualified folks in it
and the above reports are still, at this stage only allegations .

my perspective is that , he is not being "sacked", ....( as some news report have indeed worded it )
but rather that they are in a hurry to get a new team in an so the re-employment contract is being shortened, huge difference imho. .
ive no personal view on anyone, just posting what reports are saying .

 

[pmaitra]

@roma, thank you for your objective analysis. Let's wait and see, and we will have to sift through a lot of speculation.

 

[roma]

@roma, thank you for your objective analysis. Let's wait and see, and we will have to sift through a lot of speculation.

Sir, i have learned from this forum thanks to many people and certainly not excluding your good self.and
im grateful to all of them

 

[Free Karma]

People saying that Defence minister had no idea about this
[tweet]555070569587023873[/tweet]
[tweet]555068546414157824[/tweet]

 

[Bhadra]

This booklet is a must-read for the DRDO baiters who have no idea of the sheer scope and scale of the mind boggling projects they have undertaken.

And then, imagine this: The catalog only catalogs 60% of their current projects which has been publicly acknowledged. Rest 40% classified projects are not even mentioned.

When one goes through the list of the projects, it is also mind boggling to realise how most of the projects are at least 20 -30 years old - Kanchan Armour, APDSFS, Fuzes, Explosives, Rockets.. night sights etc etc. Never ever to reach completion and production stage.

Imagine how DRDO have drawn money in the name of night sights over last 30 years. Not only that - DRDO blocked Forces acquiring night sights because they were about to develop that ...

Overall loss _ Forces efficiency and national defence. But who cares...

 

[johnnyboy]

DRDO chief Avinash Chander sacked before end of tenure, says 'no idea why it happened' - Hindustan Times

The government on Tuesday sacked Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Avinash Chander, putting up the exit order on the Department of Personnel and Training website even before informing him.

DRDO chief Avinash Chander was removed from his post 16 monthe before his contract was to end. (HT Photo)

"I am hearing this from you. It has come as a shock to me. I haven't received any order from the government," Chander told HT exclusively.

The appointments committee of the cabinet (ACC) approved the termination of Chander's contract with effect from January 31, a good 16 months before it was to end. Strangely, the ACC order was taken off the DoPT website later in the day.

The sacking was first reported by HT on its website.

"It is the government's decision to end my contract but I had no indication this was coming. No idea why it has happened," the 64-year-old added.

The reasons for Chander's unceremonious exit could not be immediately ascertained but the DRDO had in August come in for sharp criticism from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over delays and cost overruns in key military programmes. Modi had said India had the potential to be a world leader in the defence sector but was being held back by a "chalta hai" attitude.

In another snub to him, the NDA government had last year turned down a DRDO request for grant of extension to four senior scientists who had attained the age of retirement.

Chander had retired on November 30, 2014 but was to hold charge till his contract expired on May 31, 2016. This was in line with his appointment order issued on May 31, 2013. The government had even issued an order on November 27 last year saying Chander would "continue to be in operation" for the next 18 months — making his sacking on Tuesday all the more unexpected.

As chief of India's premier defence research agency, Chander also held the posts of scientific adviser to the defence minister and secretary, department of defence R&D. He is credited with shaping India's strategic missile programme.

The DRDO was set up in 1958 to develop indigenous military technology and cut back on arms imports. But India holds the dubious distinction of being the world's largest weapons importer, sourcing 70% of its defence requirements from abroad.

A search panel headed by the cabinet secretary will pick Chander's replacement from among top DRDO scientists.

 

[roma]

major gripe was the challenge to streamline the various components of Dr. Do into smaller coherent units ,
coherent in the sense that they will be doing projects that are closely related

stuff like mosquito repellent will not be in the same org as the ones developing kaveri engine

 

[arnabmit]

What a load of mumbo-jumbo!

As per your eminence, once a product is developed, project should be closed and further modifications and refinements should not be made.

Whatever!

When one goes through the list of the projects, it is also mind boggling to realise how most of the projects are at least 20 -30 years old - Kanchan Armour, APDSFS, Fuzes, Explosives, Rockets.. night sights etc etc. Never ever to reach completion and production stage.

Imagine how DRDO have drawn money in the name of night sights over last 30 years. Not only that - DRDO blocked Forces acquiring night sights because they were about to develop that ...

Overall loss _ Forces efficiency and national defence. But who cares...

 

[ezsasa]

The topic of drdo scientists being underpaid keeps coming up sometime or the other.

My views on the topic.
Compared to western scientists our guys have permanent jobs for a life. Most of their scientists are on contract basis as far as Americans are concerned, which would be dependant on ebb and flow of the market. They might be paid good but their employment is linked to the contract.

Of course both methods have their advantages and disadvantages.

 

[rahulrds1]

Defence Ministry plans DRDO overhaul

After the removal of Avinash Chander as Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief, the Defence Ministry plans to overhaul the military research establishment by creating two separate posts of Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Scientific Adviser to the defence minister.

The secretary would be ex-officio director general of the DRDO. The post of the secretary would be senior to the post of the scientific adviser.

"We are thinking about splitting the dual position of the DRDO chief as Scientific Adviser to the Raksha Mantri. There should be two separate people for these two roles. Nothing has been finalised as yet," a senior government official said.

After Chander was suddenly sacked two days ago, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said he recommended the missile scientist's ouster. But the minister maintained that he came to know about the sacking order from the media.

Talking to journalists last month, Parrikar stated he would thoroughly review the functioning of the DRDO that came under criticism from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its failure to deliver in time and the laid-back attitude.

One of the transformation plans is to give more financial authority to the directors general who head seven clusters of laboratories working in the areas of naval systems; aeronautical systems; armament and combat engineering systems; missile and strategic systems; electronic and communication systems; life sciences and robotics; and computational systems.

Interestingly, five of the seven scientists working as director general of the clusters are on extension. There are also five chief controllers, one of whom is a serving Army officer.

Other changes in the offing are creation of an empowered Defence Technology Commission; DRDO's own commercial arm; renaming of director general, DRDO as chairman, DRDO and creation of five senior administrative grade posts along with 162 other posts.

In July 2014, then defence minister Arun Jaitley informed the Parliament that the DRDO moved a note seeking cabinet approval for these changes.

The proposed changes come from the recommendations of a high-level panel headed by former science secretary P Rama Rao. The panel suggested a number of steps to transform the military research organisation.

sources:
Defence Ministry plans DRDO overhaul
Govt plans to end dual role for DRDO chief - The Times of India

 

[Bhadra]

What a load of mumbo-jumbo!

As per your eminence, once a product is developed, project should be closed and further modifications and refinements should not be made.

Whatever!

What an excuse ... for the sake of it...

I have been waiting under Banana Tree since last 30 years to see a night sight to materialise ... night sight for tank men, commander, gunner, for artillery men, for night observation ..

And finally what we see - a night sight which has every thing imported ... only assembled in some obscure lab and supplied in the name of being indigenous with out any spare battery, any equipment to charge the battery, any system that can cool it except for shutting it down .. no mounts no fittings ...

How easy has it become for someone to make Charlie of the captive users...

When there are defects then blame it on user or the manufacturer .. so easy to become Scientist "X" ...

I know in this forum I am writing it at the risk of being ridiculed and banned ... but let it be so. How long can one bulldoze...

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Better than using half working, Malfunctioning, Life threatening piece of complete useless highly expensive gadgets procured from Outside ..

Your earn it ..

I have been waiting under Banana Tree since last 30 years to see a night sight to materialise ... night sight for tank men, commander, gunner, for artillery men, for night observation ..

I know in this forum I am writing it at the risk of being ridiculed and banned ... but let it be so. How long can one bulldoze...

 

[karn]

It was revealed that whatever "indigenous" night sights built by BEL was procured from Israel which inturn imported the critical components of said NVDs from france.
Half working and malfunctioning was the state of the BEL and OFB produced NVD in the 2011 trials.
There is no need to get into an argument about foreign vs local , in this case there is no local option.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

I think @Twinblade can shed some light here ..