DRDO, PSU and Private Defence Sector News

[Sridhar]

A lengthy one , but a must read ...




AeroIndia 2009: Future challenges intense, opportunities immense, says Dr. M Natarajan news
11 February 2009

Collaborations with foreign entities was there earlier as well, but essentially it was restricted to productionisation. Now we are talking from a position of some strength, particularly in design and system engineering, says Dr. M Natarajan, scientific advisor to the defence minister, and DRDO chief.

1. The defence sector is poised to enter into unprecedented cooperation with nations and corporations. How do you view the advent of such an era? What are the likely gains of such cooperation, and the pitfalls that we ought to guard against?
I am greatly excited about the possibility, opportunities of increased collaborations. Of course collaborations were there earlier too but essentially it was restricted to productionisation. Now we are talking from a position of some strength, I would say, in design and system engineering - so obviously this collaboration starts right with the possibility at the development stage itself.

Dr. M Natarajan, scientific advisor to the defence minister, and DRDO chiefThe opportunities are indeed good because in a highly inter-dependant world it would be too difficult to simultaneously develop all the constituent technologies. For example, it could relate to propulsion- though you may be good in designing aero structures, aero-dynamics. You may have developed some capability in system integration, yet you may not be ready with the levels of expertise needed in propulsion technology in spite of having some manufacturing capabilities in license produced engines.

So, it's not in fact a handicap, if we team up with a partner country, or industry, to hasten your programme for development. For, then it is achievable in a shorter time span and also the overall maturity of the product is achieved to higher levels of satisfaction of performance.

The pitfalls, and this is equally true with certain types of sensors, as I mentioned this could be true of a sensor or a radar, or parts of a radar, because we can do signal processing very well in this country. We can do integration well, we can build an antenna, maybe the signal and data processor of electronic carriers or whatever it is could be sourced from other countries. So it gives you many opportunities to assess your own technology levels and integrate either at a modular level, or as a total module.

Now that depends on how much you are willing to compromise, and how much your collaborator is willing to part with. But, I think, as they see your competence and expertise to do such tasks, the willingness to cooperate increases because they see greater business opportunities, which is the reality of business.

Cushioning against the pitfalls is necessary since we must realise in today's globalised world, there are two distinct types of restrictions.

One is governmental - for whatever reasons, it could be you are not signatory to the NPT, or the MTCR, that is not in the hands of engineers that is the country's policy.

The second is also business compulsions - that certain levels of technology may not be parted with, till they see that if they don't part with it you could go to an alternate source.

The third is that if you continue to source certain parts, or modules, as part of technology package from another country it is absolutely essential that there has to be a guarantee of supplies for a certain period. Also, for a variety of reasons, such as new NSG regulations etc many countries want to sign end-user agreements with certain compliance requirements. It is necessary to check that those compliance requirements do not infringe with our rights to use the products we design, be it aircraft, or electronic warfare systems, in a manner most appropriate for our armed forces.

Not withstanding this, collaborative means, in my view, should be increasingly adopted, because that is the only way to do future business.

2. In an era of global recession, mounting development costs and decreasing orders at home for foreign companies, how should India approach the issue of cooperation with global entities in the defence sector?
As far as defence is concerned there are certain bottom line requirements, notwithstanding economic problems, which are based on a nation's security concerns - so the same logic does not apply, as in the commercial sector. But even that bottom line, as far as a country like India is concerned, is quite reasonable. Therefore, our partners abroad should find India an attractive partner.

The reason why we want to develop and collaborate is to keep the costs of the total supply chain at manageable levels, and also to maximise indigenous materials of construction and capability because these kind of products will require life cycle support over almost 25-30 years. It is not necessary that all these companies will remain in the same form for such long periods. So, we should have the ability - should something happen earlier than that - that companies get re-structured, or business plans get changed earlier than that, we have a back up plan and we are not put to any major hardships.

So, these are some of the pitfalls as I mentioned, but not withstanding that, economic considerations in defence will be secondary - though important - to the meeting the principal objective of armed forces requirements.

Obviously, we look for a win-win situation for both parties, where as you develop, the foreign partners also appreciate your capability to absorb higher technology levels. They had doubts about this earlier on whether we could actually absorb high technology and integrate it into a meaningful product. However, with the success we have had with LCA, electronic warfare - particularly our ability to integrate avionics eg: Sukhoi, recently, the MIG 27, which we have upgraded with our modules and the air force is extremely happy.

All these are a clear pointer to a mastery of our capability and this should augur well for collaborative efforts. So any collaboration, I perceive, is a clear opportunity for a win-win situation, with economical prices and on-time deliveries for our armed forces.

 

[Sridhar]

continued ...



3. What are the areas that we need to invest in, and nurture, for the future?
We have done pretty well in setting up production infrastructure across a number of disciplines - these could be aeronautics, combat engineering, electronics like Bharat Electronics for radar technology. But as we launch major programmes not only in the DRDO, but even within the industry by their own in-house R&D - there comes a very special need that if we have to shorten the time of development to induction from deliveries through production lines, then we have to pick up all the skill sets required for engineering development for manufacture - which almost has to run concurrently from the time you begin developing your prototype.

The is a pre-requisite which factors in the manufacturing infrastructure likely to be available, or augmented, in the process consistent with the volumes that the armed forces may need. So, economic issues do come, also investment and funding issues, but above all it is a process that adds value to the design process in manufacture over and above what the R&D fellows could have done.

R&D engineers, or scientists, are essentially demonstrators of technological capabilities through a demonstrated prototypes. While it will justify the purpose for which the prototype has been instituted, and it will demonstrate very successfully the key functionalities expected of such a system, it may yet not be adequate as a reliable product for sustained operation by the armed forces. This is to be the value added by a dedicated engineering development team.

Unfortunately we had not paid attention to create such teams in the industry. But now even in the automotive sector as you know such teams have been created to develop motorcycles every 12 or 18 months, and cars in two years. So, hopefully we should be able to roll out in less than five years. This is however a huge investment in terms of highly qualified engineers who migrate from system design or system engineering to engineering development and eventually going into production. Some will come from testing and evaluation and others from piloting or flight test engineers from real operations in the air force.

When all these minds integrate this is a unique churning process which will refine the product from all angles and makes sure that the end product as it rolls out of the production lines are increasingly acceptable to the customer. You are also able to bring in online changes in production consistent with their suggestions. Sometimes it may be superfluous but still customer is sensitive to such suggestions. He wants to see it implemented because it gives him a comfort.

These are the capabilities we need to acquire considerably. I am talking in terms of translating prototypes into hardware, which is a skill set we need to certainly develop. We need to invest in these tools, notwithstanding the development of design tools.

Secondly, it is also necessary for us to upgrade our own design tools and facilities through virtual modeling and digital mock-ups as we gain strength. This will enable us not to waste time and resources, cutting down on materials, but to go through a walk through module and get as much close to user demands in terms of operational requirements or functional needs, and to that extent the design has a much better hold, right at the design stage itself - rather than building a prototype and waiting for it to be developed.

But all this is easier said, though in the design phase and in the skill sets that we have in mathematics and computers with software companies we may be able to achieve these far more speedily even somewhat realistically. But this has to be integrated with practical field experience of constructers. If constructers cannot manufacture as per your quality standards, then there is a problem - so process engineering is an equally important area we need to invest in.

Finally, at the technology levels, we need to build sufficient capability with regard to our bottom line - say in, propulsion systems for missiles, fortunately that is an area that we have done extremely well- but the propulsion system of aircrafts we cannot use in cruise missiles - there are compulsions it cannot be used. Technology from the commercial sector can't be uses as there are end-user agreements, which will not allow this to happen. We know we can modify commercial aircraft technology for military aircraft, but commercial sector agreements will not allow this to happen.

So there is a problem, as mastery is important - so propulsion becomes important, sensor becomes important, and these two areas the country needs to dearth of funding as the private sector is ready to invest in these areas. What is required is a greater understanding of the developmental process, the difficulties involved between the armed forces, developmental agencies, including DRDO, and agencies, including R&D centres in industries, and the industries themselves who should take collectively these decisions.

These investments are extremely high quantum investments and they should be optimally utilised, when invested, through targeted output, which should be systematically integrated into our ongoing and future designs.

This is an evolving process, it will happen - there is an increasing awareness of these requirements. It might also be that the armed forces might buy three different missiles with three different seekers, three different propulsion systems with three different aerodynamics because one is for the air force, one is for the army and one is for the navy - yet they may do an almost identical job. All this, because one found it convenient at one point of time.

But are we economically in a position to invest in three different technologies of seekers, three different propulsion systems, and three different airframes - its not viable. It is not viable to develop different constituent technologies for different systems. So we have to realise that homing onto one particular seeker, which may not be ideal for all combinations - but is largely acceptable to all three services, which makes such investments possible in the context of the Indian economy. So this kind of conventions in thought processes, and this kind of compliance in design, would be a pre-requisite to succeed.

 

[Sridhar]

4. Do you think as a nation we are equipped with a holistic outlook towards defence and security related matters? What would be your thoughts on this issue?
Security is a global topic today. Things are so rapidly changing. It's a dynamic situation. There are people who think that the conventional wars have been fought and now war will take on a new dimension of low intensity conflict and possibly in an extreme, and a non-occurring event, of a holocaust and we are oscillating between the two situations. So certain dimensions of security situation will have to be managed politically and diplomatically.

The armed forces are there with certain levels of forecasts. I am sure they are honing up their methods of augmenting intelligence etc., but a large group that still believes that we can't keep our conventional systems below a certain level and each country has to determine what are those levels? To that extent, yes, resources will get divided between how much you invest in your strategic systems, if you perceive dangers in those areas and for a country like India, which is facing low intensity conflicts almost at a daily level how do you apportion money in those areas.

There are issues related to the human dimension. So, as you know we also deal with life science products and technologies to keep the soldiers fit under those conditions. The intermediate segment, which mostly gets debated, aircraft or tank or electronic warfare. But scientists and technologists speak of technology across a wide spectrum of these products - because they have an innate sound mechanical design etc.

So all this calls for networked management. Just as banking has become accessible and easy from any where in the world, similarly communication, surveillance, information flow are getting networked on a much larger scale within each armed force and between armed forces and also the intelligence network. To that extent the elementary modules are there with us, in some form or the other. We have even done a CCQ base, a command control configuration system for artillery but with limited scope within a certain artillery regiment or command.

But such networks have to expand in a much bigger dimension.

These are systems integration challenges of large networks - how to ensure secrecy of your information flow, video transmission, intra or internet communication and also wireless and other forms of communication. Maybe multiple communication methods can be fused. So these are all capabilities that we can work on…. CARE is a laboratory which is onto this kind of job but it has not really taken off in the expected dimensions.

If US is eyeing India to cooperate, if not totally in some areas, it would demand networked information across continents too. These are the challenges we have to overcome by building the capabilities for the future.

Just like IT power has been a boon to business; it can be harnessed here in a big way so that platform deficiencies can be more than overcome through such integrated operations. This is a skill set that we all need to sit down and discuss and chalk out a course of development - how much is a legacy system, how much is current, how much will be futuristic, each country will have a different pattern. It is not easy for another country to offer you this. They can offer you the modularity of doing such an operation. But essentially the physical process of module integration - factoring these strengths of legacy, current and futuristic systems that you will be acquiring or building yourself is essentially what you have to do.

Therefore I see immense scope and since we've made good headway with other ait companies- it will happen progressively.

Therefore in case of marginal deficiencies we need not get unduly alarmed. If you look within DRDO, the laboratory has developed battlefield surveillance radar at LRDE. It can see up to 7-10 kms a man walking either night or day, or a truck. Now the same thing, an electro optics payload is made by LRDE, Dehradun and someone else could've made an infrared seeker or a millimetric wave seeker. Now that could be used as anti-collision device in a locomotive or as a sensor.

When you integrate such sensors, perhaps you have a surveillance system. Progressively you don't have to keep people in the Siachen Glacier but they can be seated in bunkers and keep watching over a vast area. This can be integrated to an alarm system so that even if he falls asleep someone can wake him up alerting him.

This will also have to be coupled with rapid air lift capability should you sense danger.

Opportunities exist in plenty like coastal survey of the 7500 km of coastline. It is humanly impossible to plant men at every half km. We can integrate acoustic sensors also for the purpose as our laboratory NPOL Kochi has demonstrated. Since the opportunities are immense, it is only our imagination and innovativeness and creativity that will determine the strides we take.

That is why I care for the young scientist.

 

[Sridhar]

5. Because of the nature of their work, organisations of strategic importance, such as the DRDO, tend to be rather insular and not very open to the public gaze. While this may be good in some ways, it can also leave the field open to motivated campaigns and public relations disasters, which the organisation may find difficult to counteract. What would your thoughts be on this issue?
The subject you have raised is very relevant. Committed scientists in general are resistant to being exposed to the media. I remember when Agni 3 failed and many newspapers called it a disaster. On the spot when the failure took place, I was in company of the then raksha mantri Pranab Mukherjee because for a minute I could see the feeling of many of the young scientists involved. So being the department head, I can't afford to show a sad face. One newspaper immediately ridiculed it and said it was a failure.

The minister said it went upto 18 km and was therefore a partial success. Even that was ridiculed in one newspaper. So what is required is to cut down the needless hype. Second if any developmental effort nobody can guarantee success even with best of efforts there will be failures. Failure is an integral part of the development process and of success as well. I believe failure is the first few steps towards success. All successful programmes have gone through a failure cycle. Nothing to get alarmed but the way it gets hyped sometimes disturbs the scientist. And a missile like Agni cannot be tested in an auditorium. It has to be tested in a field and therefore open to the public.

But a non-technological person just cannot appreciate the nuances of development and very few journalists are actually clued in to these specific technologies to appreciate them. I must also admit that even I am to that extent a poor communicator. Fortunately we have a very powerful personality among the CC R&Ds I have as my board of directors, Dr Selva Murthy, who is a lively distinguished scientist and a life science person who understood this drawback very early and has set up a public interface with Dr Suranjan Pal who is our person there.

Over the last 2 ½ years we have disseminated quite a lot of information to the media without jeopardizing security levels. So we will continue to open our channels without giving out operational details.

So the disclosure cannot be compared to the ISRO eg: the Chandrayaan, a mission for peace. Even we wouldn't attack any body but in case of an attack we should be able to protect ourselves.

Even then we can't disclose everything to make the task of breaking in easier for the opponent. This is a constant debate as we are spenders of public money we are responsible to divulge broad details and changing the focus from projects to the technology involved which we will be focusing on in future. Whether the propulsion is used by Agni 1, 2 or 3 will depend on what the armed forces need at a particular point and what the country needs. And all these products are possible only if we have capability in propulsion, aerospace materials, metallic and non metallic, composites similarly your ability in navigation, carbon composites or other composites for re-entry.

But there will be cases where even technologies cannot be disclosed because of the implications. We can speak at a macro level but not at a micro level of specifications. I would like to place on record through you to the entire nation that it is not that DRDO does not want to be open to that extent. Sometimes it is not fair on the part of the public to expect everyone from the scientific community to be so articulate. Because innately they are silent workers. And the success of an organisation like DRDO rests on the silent sloggers than loudmouths.

 

[Sridhar]

6. On a personal note, can you describe what it entailed working for such an organisation at the time of your joining? How are things different now?
I think you are asking the question to the right man and in some sense the wrong man. Right man in the sense I am a home grown product. I joined DRDO way back and never dreamt that I would be the scientific advisor but here I am in this chair and slowly my terms in coming to a close. Secondly I may not be the repository of knowledge to comment on DRDO. Yet I would say we have traveled miles. There are always miles to go. As targets keep shifting, your milestones keep shifting.

The transformation that I have witnessed is; in the 70s we didn't have the courage to think of systems. Perhaps that was not the mandate either so we were contended with some science and technology development or learning processes of some intricate technologies - also some very very incremental value additions, not of very high value but of a more utilitarian value. But the boldness to embark on the major technologies came in the mid-'80s. The '71 war gave some propulsion in that direction to think of and in 1974 the Pokhran added to the restrictions.

There fore there were compulsions and the shortcoming was also recognised at the industry level. There were one or two products but not across the board from some asci generators and incremental value additions to suddenly thinking big to aircrafts. We had an inadequate base for these and infrastructure to meet the technology levels worldwide was lacking. Many tasks had to be taken up concurrently and it is true of many nations, not only India. It is mostly the case with first generation products like battle tanks, electronic warfare system, aircraft or submarine, which went into at least two decades. But I am sure the second generation will grow up very fast considerable effort has gone into learning and also by those who while learning have gone through bitter experiences. This has helped mentor the youngsters to improve their take-off.

This process has significantly improved over the years.

We had to set up the infrastructure, the workshops, machine tools installation, we had to design and manufacture tooling.. With these you produce parts and integrate them. When you find test infrastructure inadequate then you commission and build that up. So you can see that virtually in every area whether it is combat engineering or electronics or aero spheres people have gone through setting up of fabrication facilities, infrastructure facilities for test and evaluation and building up of human resource in design and each of these functional areas and also the field tests and evaluation.

Like Rama, 14 years we had to go to the deserts of Rajasthan taking along a 60 ton tank because we didn't have a test facility. It might have looked crazy but that was the only way we could've accomplished at that time. Now we have far more advanced simulation techniques it's available where we could check out but then it was so. Something like the folding landing gear of the aircraft but it runs only 100 km. Somebody would say it is a failure because it can run only 100 km but the fact that it runs 100 km means that it has features like high temperature seals which can be worked upon for longer distances. Now we have with honing completing buffing finishing we can get it to run longer. Slowly the technology progressed from 400 – 450 and then to 1500. Today we are guaranteeing 4500 km almost the life of the tank. The chrome plating, honing process including the honing sticks was the intermediate innovations.

See how the technology improved with value addition at all levels seats got developed and But we can't now work like we used then. Because every project will take its own sweet time maybe 25 – 30 years. That's why there is a need to network a large number of small medium and specialist companies. You need systems integrators, engineering developers whether it is outsourced expertise or in-house expertise; you also need test and evaluation expertise through rigs and through field tests and above all you need service people as an integral part of your team for final field evaluation.

The whole gamut of activities that takes a design from a computer to the field, the DRDO and other industry partners have learnt. We have crossed many thresholds and reached a level at which we are looking at developing light and medium combat aircrafts and further the UC aviator at a later date. Like that in every area in combat engineering we produced Arjun tank but the problem was using the modules of electro-optics an entirely new concept was configured to use on T72, T90. It's another thing that the army has not yet taken to it but it was done in a record time of two years. The original turret took about 8 years for us to develop. So you can imagine the speed and how one development feeds 10 others. We have recently developed a rotary wankle engine for ostensibly for Nissan 55hp. The beauty is that it runs 8000- 10000 rpm, one could couple a constant frequency integral drive generator with it and get power out of it. Some can be used as an APU. Even if doesn't get sold in a shop it can go into other applications. For every successful design there can be multiple uses based on your ingenuity, creativity and imagination, how you package it, we need to develop this brand of engineers too who are product multipliers cashing on available technologies.

Such skill sets are also to be learnt in our industry. How to capitalise on somebody else' development. DRDO is a treasure house of technologies. Just like data mining in the IT industry we have to do technology mining for this industry. Our own scientists might not be able to but industry engineers will be given access to mine through technologies available with DRDO that will benefit the nation at large.

Cost is not the issue because it is paid for by the government. So at this point we are finally at a position of strength where collaborating companies take us seriously and Embraer, EADS, Eurojet for aeronautics and other world leader are talking to us now. I think that is a good sign.

At the personal level I am immensely happy for two reasons but I think it is a God given gift. though I have been associated with the Arjun tank and been taking all the beatings ...I have also been involved with LCA willy-nilly right from the beginning but now I am involved with some submarine constructions. What more can one expect in a lifespan from 25 -60 years, if you have been distinctly fortunate to deal with such a wide spectrum of technologies including electronic warfare, radar etc. The levels of satisfaction with which I lay down my office is unmatched and cannot be matched with money.

The challenges in future developments are so intense, opportunities are so immense, my advice to the youngsters is even if you choose a greener pasture change after 10 years. Because your most productive age 25 -35 is ideal for the DRDO and you stand to gain a lot from it. Most of the armaments we see have been produced by committed souls.

domain-b.com : AeroIndia 2009: Future challenges intense, opportunities immense, says Dr. M Natarajan

 

[nitesh]

Excellent post sridhar

Guys let's have all the DRDO related news here

 

[nitesh]

India goes deep-sea diving for clean fuel-Pollution-Earth-The Times of India

ndia goes deep-sea diving for clean fuel
30 Oct 2008, 0458 hrs IST, Arun Ram, TNN

CHENNAI: With the launch of Chandrayaan-1, India began its search for energy in outer space. Soon, the search will extend to the deep sea.

As Chandrayaan heads for the moon for helium-3, the fuel used for nuclear fusion, scientists from the National Institute of Ocean Technology here are all set to delve into the seabed in the Bay of Bengal for gas hydrates, which could be the magic fuel the world is searching for.

Gas hydrates trapped in crystalline ice beneath the seabed are 160 times more efficient than petrol. In other words, if a litre of petrol can drive a car for 10km, a litre of gas hydrate can run it for 1,600km. Moreover, gas hydrates are considered a clean fuel. Around 6.4 trillion tonnes of methane, sufficient to meet the energy needs, are believed to be trapped in the form of gas hydrates below the seabed.

After almost 10 years of geophysical survey, which confirmed the presence of gas hydrates in the Bay of Bengal, a team of 15 scientists from the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) here will take up sea-bed coring (a refined and more scientific way of drilling) for gas hydrates on the Krishna-Godavari basin off the Andhra Pradesh coast in six months. Carrying the scientists and the US-made autonomous coring system for retrieving samples would be Sagar Nidhi, the state-of-the-art exploration vessel NIOT procured from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for Rs 232 crore in January. Sagar Nidhi is now on a pilot project near the site.

We will start coring by April next. We hope to strike gas hydrate in just one day. This is going to be a big thing for the world, NIOT director S Kathiroli said. The US, Russia, Canada and Japan have been working on gas hydrate exploration, and Japan is aiming at commercial-scale extraction by 2016.

While reserves have been found in several parts of the world, ascertaining the extent of the presence of gas hydrates have remained difficult. Storing gas hydrates, found at very low and very high temperatures, continues to be the big challenge. Ultrasonographic studies done by the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, and the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, have indicated a large presence of gas hydrates in the Bay of Bengal.

 

[nitesh]

Advanced ATR to come up in Karnataka-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of India

Advanced ATR to come up in Karnataka
31 Oct 2008, 1727 hrs IST, PTI


BANGALORE: The Aeronautics Cluster Laboratories of the DRDO today announced that it was in the process of setting up a world class Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) at the district headquarters town of Chitradruga in Karnataka at an investment of Rs 1,000cr.

The range would be akin to the Balasore testing range in Orissa and would enable testing of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, parachutes, radars, airborne early warning and control systems and other electronic warfare systems.

The Karnataka government has identified 4,000 acres of land in Kudapura in Chitradurga for developing the testing range. The land, costing Rs 12cr, would be purchased by the Ministry of Defence, said Dr Prahlada, Chief Controller, DRDO, during the golden jubilee celebrations of the Aeronautical Cluster of Laboratories.

"It's a barren used for animal grazing. It was a hilly terrain with not much human dwelling," he said.

The range would begin initial operations in two to three years after setting of technical equipment, runway and infrastructure. It would take five years to be fully operational and would be comparable to the best in the world.

On upcoming R and D aeronautics projects in India, he said DRDO has projects worth Rs 26,000 crore for development in 10 years, while HAL had 12,000 crore worth projects.

In the civilian application side, there are Rs 4,000cr worth projects, taking the total size to Rs 42,000cr worth aeronautics system development projects for both DRDO and HAL, he added.

 

[nitesh]

New Delhi (PTI): Following in the footsteps of the US Armed Forces, the Indian Army soldiers will soon be armed with laser guns to help take on militants without even firing a single shot.

The Laser Science and Technology Centre (LASTEC), a DRDO laboratory, has developed 'Laser Dazzler' -- a non-lethal gun -- for the armed forces to be used during counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist operations.

"The laser gun is a non-lethal anti-personnel weapon, which could be used to disorient or dazzle an armed soldier or a terrorist without causing any collateral damage in the process," LASTEC's Associate Director A K Maini told PTI here today.

He said the gun would flash a laser beam, which could virtually "blind" the terrorist or anti-social element for around 40 seconds - time good enough for the troops to nab the culprit.

The flash beam of the gun is two to three metres wide, which would provide better chances to the forces in disorienting the target.

"The gun can be used effectively in counter-insurgency operations and close combat battles by the defence and paramilitary forces," Maini said.

The DRDO-developed gun would be used for trials by the Army in counter-insurgency operations in the next five to six months. It would be tested in "real combat" situations in both Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern states.

The laser guns are also fully compliant with the UN conventions, which prohibit the use of laser guns that cause permanent blindness.

The Hindu News Update Service

 

[nitesh]

A good read: On Solid State Devices

http://www.drdo.com/pub/techfocus/2008/oct08.pdf

 

[nitesh]

info about F INSAS

Pune plans tech upgrade for soldiers-Pune-Cities-The Times of India

Pune plans tech upgrade for soldiers
27 Aug 2008, 0342 hrs IST,TNN

PUNE: City-based Armament research and development establishment (ARDE) is developing technology which it hopes will turn the future soldier into a “system in himself”.

From computer-monitored body suits conveying details of the soldier’s health to the nearest post to shoes that generate charge as he walks for batteries in the equipment he’ll carry, the future infantry soldier as a system (F-INSAS) project aims to accomplish much more.

Surendra Kumar, director of ARDE, told reporters on Tuesday that the programme will integrate a miniature computer system with the soldier.

While the current cost of indegeniously developing the technology is pegged between Rs 75 and Rs 100 crore, it would cost the country around Rs 500 crore to import the same, said Kumar.

“Currently, the capacity of a soldier on the border is limited to the equipment he carries. We seek to empower him with multi-purpose weapons that will help him through every possible situation,” said Kumar.

The ARDE is working on ‘round the corner combat’ weapons that will help locate the exact position of the enemy and communicate that to the soldier. “The new weapons will have long range and high accuracy,” said Kumar.

Giving details of the body suit the ARDE is developing, Kumar said it will have nodes monitoring the soldier’s health while he is out on the field. In the event of him being hit or injured, his condition will be auto-communicated to the nearest post.

Kumar said that while the weapon prototypes “have been realised”, the ARDE will discuss the designs with the Army. “It will take three years to roll out the state-of-the-art weapons and five years for the entire concept of F-INSAS. We make it a point to involve the ultimate users right from the concept stage,” said Kumar.

‘Invisible’ vehicle The ultimate protection for the soldier is the proposed infantry combat vehicle (F-ICV) containing special armaments. “Key highlight of the vehicle is that certain protruding instruments will automatically change colour according to the surroundings, such that they are invisible to the naked eye,” said Kumar.

 

[nitesh]

The Hindu : Front Page : Unmanned robotic ground vehicles being developed


Unmanned robotic ground vehicles being developed

T.S. Subramanian

Infantry combat vehicles are being modified for the purpose

An artist’s impression of the unmanned robotic ground vehicle. —


CHENNAI: Three types of unmanned robotic ground vehicles for detecting and clearing landmines, fencing the areas affected by nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) warfare agents and watching the enemy territory at night are being developed by the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), Avadi, near here.

The existing infantry combat vehicle (BMP-II version), which weighs about 14 tonnes, is being modified for the purpose. It will be remote-controlled from a base station.

CVRDE director S. Sundaresh said: “They will be on the road in the later part of 2009. They will be equipped with high-power lasers, sensors and have the global positioning system. Our ultimate aim is to develop an unmanned combat vehicle.”

Normally, manned vehicles travel into areas affected by the NBC warfare agents to demarcate such territories. The unmanned vehicle can navigate obstacles, travel to different terrains affected by the NBC warfare agents and mark such areas with pickets.

Mr. Sundaresh said: “It will have a five-metre tall mast with sensors. A camera will take high-resolution pictures of the enemy territory and send the pictures by radio links to the base-station so that the Army commander will know the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses,” he said.

This vehicle will have a self-destruct capability, if captured. It will destroy itself after cleaning up its electronics. “This is one of the exciting areas we are working on,” he pointed out.

The base station that will control the three types of vehicles will be located about five km away. The range can be extended up to 15 km.

Cross-country mobility

“The size of the vehicle is not a critical factor in NBC reconnaissance or clearing landmines. It can go close to the enemy area and take pictures,” the CVRDE director said.

As they will be tracked vehicles, they can boast of cross-country mobility. They can traverse different types of terrain.

“The electronics will be soon integrated into these vehicles,” said Mr. Sundaresh.

The CVRDE, a unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), had designed and developed Arjun, India’s main battle tank.

 

[nitesh]

Deccan Herald - DRDO develops stealth parachutes for advance operations

DRDO develops stealth parachutes for advance operations
New Delhi, PTI:

The parachute will help the troopers to jump from a height of 30,000 feet as compared to the current jump height of 10,000 feet and will avoid detection from the enemy as the sound of aircraft, at this height would be inaudible.


The DRDO has developed a new "stealth-parachute", capable of para-dropping soldiers at three times the normal height at which they are presently dropped, to be used by defence forces in the operational situations.

The parachute will help the troopers to jump from a height of 30,000 feet as compared to the current jump height of 10,000 feet and will avoid detection from the enemy as the sound of aircraft, at this height would be inaudible, say experts.

"The benefit of such a capability will mean that we can start dropping our soldiers at a long distance (say up to 30 kilometres) from the objective, in a safer airspace. Besides, at this height the sound of the plane would go unnoticed by enemy forces on the ground," Chief Controller of Defence Research and Development Organisation W Selvamurty said.

The new system comes equipped with lightweight oxygen cylinders to avoid suffocation, as at these heights, oxygen becomes scarce. The system provides oxygen on demand during breathing for nearly 45 minutes after bailout, Selvamurty said.

"A paratrooper till now could only be dropped from a maximum height of 10,000 feet and one of the risks involved here is that while being airdropped from such lower heights, the para-jumper can get exposed to enemy," he said.

The new parachutes also sport directional gadgets which will keep the para-jumper abreast of his landing directions.

"The para-jumpers will be airborne for nearly 45 minutes. With the help of directional gadgets, he can manoeuvre the parachute to reach the target," Selvamurty added.

"These new parachutes would come handy for operations close to the border and for cipher activities. We had some parachutes from abroad similar to this but they were not suitable for our requirements. We developed these parachutes keeping in mind our specific needs," he said.

Orders for nearly 700 units of these parachutes have already been placed by defence forces, he said.

 

[nitesh]

The New Indian Express - Best of South India News, Entertainment, Cricket, Business, Lifestyle


India Express Buzz
Monday, January 12, 2009 3:40 PM IST

DARE’s indoor antenna range facility
Express News Service
First Published : 12 Jan 2009 03:47:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 12 Jan 2009 12:47:02 PM IST

BANGALORE: The Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), a laboratory of DRDO based in Bangalore has developed an indoor antenna test range facility to characterise both the electronic support measure (ESM) and electronic counter measure (ECM) antennas, a facility which is the first of its kind in India.

This facility covers a wide range for pattern characterisation with a unique capability to measure direction and finding accuracy too.

It is also capable of characterising antennas for radiation patterns, beam peak, beam with width and directivity.

The facility receives and transmits electronic warning antenna signals, similar to sun rays and is named ‘Udayakiran.’ A few days ago this lab had been successful in indigenously upgrading the avionics system for MiG 27 aircraft.

 

[nitesh]

good info

http://www.drdo.com/dpi/Swagat.pdf
http://www.drdo.com/dpi/The_Week,_Nov_30,_2008.pdf

 

[nitesh]

check this

http://www.drdo.com/pub/nl/2009/Feb09.pdf?bcsi_scan_0752DDFA1B5B7E84=0&bcsi_scan_filename=Feb09.pdf

 

[nitesh]

A Complete News Magazine on National Security

Russia may buy the DRDO-developed HUMS suite from India

One may not be faulted for wondering how a country can play host to two significant exhibitions dedicated to land forces armaments and related technologies within a 40-day period. Yet, that is exactly what recently happened in Russia. The first such expo was the Russian Expo Arms 2008, the sixth biannual exhibition of weapon systems for land forces, which was held between July 9 and 12 in the town of Nizhny Tagil. The second expo, called the International Defence Exhibition for Land Forces (IDELF), was held between August 20 and 24 in Moscow and attracted 80 high-level official delegations from Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Greece, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, North Korea, Poland, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the US, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Yemen. All in all, IDELF 2008 played host to more than 500 Russian exhibitors, with the sole Indian exhibitor being BrahMos Aerospace.

Although Russia’s latest R&D ventures involving new-generation weapon systems were not showcased at IDELF, there was considerable optimistic buzz among informed senior Russian military-industrial officials regarding the almost clinched deal for large-scale industrial cooperation with regard to the co-development between India and Russia to develop a futuristic family of tracked armoured combat vehicles. While the mass media in India has thus far only publicised two projects — the futuristic main battle tank (FMBT) and futuristic infantry combat vehicle (FICV) — that are to be jointly developed by Russia’s Uralvagonzavod JSC and the Ural Design Office of Transport Mechanical Engineering on one hand, and India’s Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) — the scope of the overall joint R&D effort goes way beyond these two vehicles. It is believed that Russia’s Rosoboronexport State Corp as far back as 2006 had proposed to India’s ministry of defence (MoD) and Army HQ an ambitious plan to develop a family of futuristic armoured combat vehicles (all sharing a common hull, automotive package and open-architecture vectronics suite) that included the T-95 FMBT, the FICV (to be made available in three versions: one for the ground forces, one for airborne forces, and an amphibious variant for naval infantry), a tracked 155mm/52-cal field artillery howitzer and its ammunition resupply vehicle, a vehicle housing a turret-mounted rifled-bore 120mm breech-loading mortar, an armoured recovery vehicle, an armoured bridge layer, and a vehicle that will be able to house a variety of turret-mounted air-defence weapons, ranging from high-velocity rapid-fire twin 30mm cannons to E-SHORADS missiles and their related target acquisition/target engagement radars and optronic fire-control systems. All these vehicles will be powered by a 1,200hp four-stroke V-12 diesel engine. As far as the Army HQ’s Directorate General of Mechanised Forces is concerned, the acquisition of such a fleet of new-generation vehicles with unprecedented systems commonality augurs extremely well in terms of not only operational availability of combat capabilities, but also greatly simplified operational logistics.

Senior officials of the Russian Army’s Armoured Weapons Directorate and Uralvagonzavod JSC disclosed that the development of such futuristic armoured weapon systems began as far back as 1988, but reached the decisive product development stage only in 2004. The overall design concept of such vehicles being highly modular, there is considerable scope for Indian industrial participation. While the vehicles meant for the Russian armed forces will have 100 per cent systems and components sourced from within Russia, the vehicles for India (both for the army and navy) will have 85 per cent indigenous content, with only the FMBT’s 152mm/44-cal smoothbore main gun and the FICV’s on-board hyper-velocity 8km-range anti-armour guided-missiles being supplied off-the-shelf by Russia. The 50-tonne FMBT, known in Russia as the T-95 or Object 775, will be manned by a three-man crew, and will have a small unmanned turret housing a rotating autoloader connected to a rear-mounted ammunition bustle housing up to 40 FSAPDS kinetic-energy rounds. Seats for the driver, gunner and commander will be located in an armoured capsule that will be separated by an armoured bulkhead from the automatic loader and turret. This radical design has resulted in the T-95’s silhouette being reduced dramatically, making it less observable on the battlefield. Such a configuration also resolves a major dilemma concerning futuristic MBT designs — combining adequate protection with manoeuvrability and ground/air transportability. The T-95 will also be equipped with an active protection system (APS), and an open-architecture vectronics suite using the MIL-STD-1553B digital data bus. Main elements of the vectronics suite will include an all-digital hunter-killer fire-control system (comprising the ballistics computer, gunner’s primary sight and a novel mast-mounted commander’s panoramic sight), a combined battle space management system (BMS) and health-and-usage management system (HUMS), and a hybrid GPS/fibre-optic gyro-based autonomous land navigation system. The FMBT’s first round hit capability while on the move will be more than 92 per cent.

 

[nitesh]

» Indian Army orders 28 indigenous Weapon Locating Radars - Thaindian News

Indian Army orders 28 indigenous Weapon Locating Radars

June 29th, 2008 - 4:22 pm ICT by IANS

By Gulshan Luthra

New Delhi, June 29 (IANS) The Indian Army is acquiring 28 highly sophisticated India-made Weapon Locating Radars (WLRs) to track and neutralize hostile artillery fire. The radars are being integrated by the state-run Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), set up in 1954 to meet the specialised electronic needs of the Indian armed forces, but a large number of components will come from the private sector, including some Commercially-available Off the Shelf (COTS) from the international market.

According to a report in the July issue of the India Strategic defence magazine, with the indigenous manufacture of the much-needed radars, there is likely to be no further import of the system from the US arms technology major Raytheon, which has supplied 12 radars to the Indian artillery under a 2002 government-to-government deal for around $200 million.

An advance copy of the India Strategic, made available to IANS, quotes Dr Prahlada, Distinguished Scientist and Chief Controller in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), as saying that the Indian Army had approved the radar after several tests in electronic clutter and “high density fire environment”.

It may be noted that the Indian Army had asked for the WLRs in the mid-1980s but the government sanctioned their acquisition only after the 1999 Kargil War in which the Indian Army suffered more than 80 percent of its casualties due to the Pakistani artillery fire.

The need was felt so urgent that it was in fact the first acquisition from the US under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. Raytheon completed the order last year, and the radars were integrated on Tatra chassis supplied by the public sector BEML Ltd.

The Weapon Locating Radar, also known as Gun Locating Radar, helps track hostile fire and directs counter fire within seconds.

Pakistan has had the advantage of US-supplied radars from the mid-1980s, and they were also built by Raytheon, but an earlier model. The version supplied to India has longer range and reach, and the additional capability to destroy some artillery missiles.

There was, however, no Transfer of Technology (ToT) in the WLR acquired from the US, although Raytheon officials have separately told India Strategic that it is favourable to the idea if there are further orders.

The heart of the WLR is the advanced phased-array Rajendra radar, developed by BEL for a multiplicity of use. The Indian radar is also fitted on the BEML-supplied Tatra vehicles, which are produced in India under licence.

Prahlada, who is the interface between the DRDO and the Indian armed forces for the transfer of indigenously-developed technology, said the Indian radar developed by DRDO was good but as technology grows and improves, further development was always possible.

A military system generally has Mark I, and II, and so on. With this WLR radar also, the range and firepower would increase periodically.

The indigenous radar is based on two vehicles, as against three of the Raytheon WLR.

The sensor is on a single vehicle, and the radar has automatic projectile acquisition and data transmission even in high density fire environment. It has high resolution as well as remote displays with the facility to change sector coverage as required in a battlefield.

The range of the radar was not specified but it is believed to be 40-plus km.

 

[nitesh]

» Indian scientists evolve avalanche prediction system - Thaindian News

Indian scientists evolve avalanche prediction system

July 18th, 2008 - 1:55 pm ICT by IANS

By Richa Sharma
New Delhi, July 18 (IANS) In a boon for armed forces personnel deployed in high-altitude areas, defence scientists have developed a system for forecasting avalanches with maximum accuracy to enable corrective measures to be taken. The system, developed by researchers of the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), can predict any given day as an “avalanche day” or “non-avalanche day”.

The system, tested on a 60-km stretch of a new road being developed between Chowkibal and Tangdhar, some 200 km from Srinagar, an area prone to avalanches, has proved to be 80 percent accurate, its developers say.

“The data-based system will assist the defence forces in troop deployment by providing them details about inclement weather in advance,” scientists Dan Singh and Ashwagosha Ganju, who developed the system, wrote in the research journal Current Science.

“It is better than most of the classical and statistical methods now being used for forecasting avalanches,” they added.

SASE, an arm of the premier Defence Research and Developemnt Organisation (DRDO), is based at Manali in Himachal Pradesh. The avalanche study was conducted at its R&D centre at Chandigarh.

“The system is based on the input conditions and automatically generates the rule set for each new situation encountered at the input stage,” the scientists wrote.

In simple terms, the system works on the “if-then” concept and takes into account factors like temperature, snowfall, depth of snow on the ground and the average wind speed, and weather conditions to predict when and where an avalanche is likely to occur.

This data is gathered from sensors placed at various points along the road that transmit the information to a central control room.

Currently, avalanche prediction is being done by the statistical method that relies on strict mathematical procedure.

But, as the scientists said, “to completely transfer the forecaster’s logic in the statistical model is a difficult and challenging task”.

The system has been offered to the Indian Army, the Border Roads Organisation and the Border Security Force for being tested in field conditions.

“Based on their feedback, we will make whatever modifications that might be required,” a DRDO official said.

SASE was set up in 1969 to combat the hazards of heavy snowfall and avalanches, not only to help the armed forces survive in harsh climatic conditions but also to accelerate the pace of socio-economic development in otherwise inaccessible snowbound hill regions.

 

[nitesh]

Enhancing life

Guys now check this:

THE Life Sciences and Human Resources group of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) provides the lifeline to soldiers, whether they are posted in the desert sands of Rajasthan, the benumbing cold of Siachen, the micro-environs of bunkers or are flying in their combat aircraft.

The nine laboratories are Defence Agricultural Research Laboratory (DARL), Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand; Field Research Laboratory (FRL), Leh, Jammu and Kashmir; Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Mysore, and Defence Bio-Engineering & Electro-Medical Laboratory (DEBEL), Bangalore, both in Karnataka; Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), Tezpur, Assam; Defence Research & Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh; Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) and Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR), all in New Delhi.

Sample these two research activities of the DIPAS. In the circular Human Decompression Chamber, a soldier is subjected to a simulated environment of an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,000 metres) and -20° Celsius. When a solider sits in the Human Climatic Chamber, the temperature rises to a burning 42°C and winds gust up. The soldier’s heartbeat, blood pressure and other physiological parameters are monitored. In the selection of soldiers and officers for the armed forces, the DRDO has laid down standards based on rigorous research and arrived at minimum physical standards for different States and ethnic populations.

These laboratories formulate nutritious ration-scales; develop life-support systems for paratroopers dropped from a height of 30,000 feet (9,000 m); design the cockpit of the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas or the driver’s compartment of the main battle tank Arjun; develop self-heating gloves and socks for soldiers in Siachen and bio-digesters to treat human waste at that height; and work on bio-diesel.
Innovative Products

The products of the laboratories include the FRL’s vitamin-rich Leh Berry juice and herbal tea, the DFRL’s bottled Cocojal (tender coconut water), preserved chappatis, processed vegetables, ready-to-eat pulav mix, and instant rice and coconut chutney. The DARL has developed an ointment for leucoderma and a herbal anti-eczema ointment Eczit, while the DIPAS has come up with Alocal, an aloe vera-based cream to treat frostbite. More than three lakh bottles of Alocal have so far been sent to soldiers at high altitudes. Other products include the DRDE’s kit to detect water-poisoning in the event of nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) warfare and NBC filters, the DRL’s kit to remove iron and arsenic from water, the DEBEL’s NBC respiratory mask and the INMAS’ titanium bone plates and screws, titanium dental implants, and light-weight foldable stretchers.

W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller of R&D (Life Sciences and Human Resources), said: “These laboratories look into the needs of the men behind the weapons. We have 380 scientists. The mission is to enhance the survivability of these men. Our troops operate in high altitudes, deserts, under water, and in aerospace, closed micro-environment and areas of low-intensity conflict. We have to sustain them in these conditions, optimise their efficiency, and give them the kill power.”

If nutrition is a key area that these laboratories work on, they are on another wicket developing clothing such as flying overalls for soldiers in the Indian Air Force, impermeable NBC suits, escape suits for submariners, and anti-G suits for pilots.

The Recruitment and Assessment Centre (RAC) of the DRDO has set up Darpan, a permanent exhibition at its premises in New Delhi to showcase the DRDO’s research and technological strength for researchers, job seekers and visitors from India and abroad. The architect of this exhibition is Sanjay Pal, Additional Director, RAC. A highlight of Darpan is the showcasing of the progress made in explosives and propellants by the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory in Pune.

According to the RAC’s Director Arun Kumar, the centre recruits 600-700 scientists every year in 22 areas. “In 2008, we have so far recruited 40 PhDs in various engineering disciplines, life sciences and psychology. We recruit non-resident Indians through video-conferencing,” Arun Kumar added.
Extreme conditions

R.S. Sawhney, Director, Directorate of Life Sciences pointed out that the operational needs of the Indian armed forces forced them to work not only under the sea, where hyperbaria or high pressure of the water column could limit human performance, but also at altitudes of 9,000-20,000 feet in the eastern and western Himalayas, where low oxygen affects a soldier’s physical and mental performance. The Siachen glacier, where even the day temperature remains below zero almost throughout the year, is manned by the Army. Soldiers face freezing temperatures up to minus 50°C low oxygen level, blizzards, and shelling from the enemy.

On sudden induction to high altitude, the soldier faces problems such as acute mountain sickness, high-altitude pulmonary oedema [HAPO], and high-altitude cerebral oedema, explained Sawhney and Alka Chatterjee, who also belongs to the Directorate of Life Sciences. HAPO and cerebral oedema could be lethal and require immediate evacuation to lower heights. These problems appear less severe when troops are inducted gradually by road to high altitudes instead of sudden induction by air.

A three-stage acclimatisation schedule developed by the DRDO equipped the armed forces to battle these and reduce casualties to a large extent. Nevertheless, a resting period of five days became essential before the troops could be deployed for any active operation, added Sawhney and Alka Chatterjee.

During the 1962 India-China conflict, HAPO and cold injuries such as frostbite and chilblains took a heavy toll on the Indian troops. To circumvent these problems, the life sciences laboratories developed the HAPO bag, a life-support system, which could reduce the hypoxic effects and provide time for evacuating the troops to safer heights. Once inside the bag, the patient will feel as if he or she were at an altitude of 8,000 feet although it may be 18,000 feet. All the patho-physiological changes which led to HAPO will be reversed and the soldier ca n be evacuated to the field hospital.

Selvamurthy said: “The system developed by us to administer nitric oxide and oxygen to HAPO patients has been able to save more than 300 lives till date. We have developed a new treatment for protection against cold injuries, which may lead to amputation of affected parts. A combination of pentoxyphylline, aspirin, and vitamin C with application of Alocal has proved to be the most effective treatment.” Alocal’s allopathic version is Prefros.

The DRDO has not stopped here. When soldiers march from the base camp to the Siachen glacier, they can soon wear gloves and socks heated by battery cells. These gloves and socks are under evaluation.

The laboratories have developed life support systems for paratroopers dropped from aircraft at an altitude of 30,000 feet to escape detection by the enemy’s radars and surveillance systems. Since the temperature at that altitude will be minus 50°C, the paratroopers need warm clothing, light-weight oxygen cylinders and so on. While an imported system will cost Rs.12 lakh, the DRDO-developed system costs only Rs.4.5 lakh.

The DIPAS, headed by G. Ilavazhagan, has done some innovative work for protection against noise-induced hearing loss (NIHO). Its carbogen breathing system has helped to combat NIHO among men and women working at airfields, in the engine rooms of the navy’s ships and so on.

The INMAS, headed by Rajendra Prashad Tripathi, does clinical and fundamental research in non-invasive imaging, development of radio and magneto pharmaceuticals, thyroid research, and development of synthetic and herbal drugs for biological protection and health care.

What is amazing is the variety of processed, ready-to-eat food products developed by the FRL and the DFRL. Selvamurthy said, “Every year we transfer 10 technologies in [the] food sector alone to industry…. We have developed a self-heating pouch for warm food. The food packet is kept inside a pouch in which calcium oxide touches water, generates exo-thermic reaction and the food is warmed up. The soldier can eat warm food at -40°C.”

Tejas’ cockpit design, the pilot’s anti-G suit, helmet, face mask and oxygen mask were developed by the life sciences laboratories.