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India’s indigenous missile technology is geared for further enhancements as Avinash Chander, Chief Controller ( Missiles and Strategic Systems) at DRDO indicated at a function in Hyderabad that DRDO is aiming to increase the range of air-to-surface missiles up to 400 km and air-to-air missiles up to 300 km besides developing a low-weight nano missile. On the other hand, DRDO Chief V K Saraswat has stated that DRDO has urged the Prime Minister to provide higher allocation of funds to DRDO for its programmes.
At a function in Hyderabad, DRDO Chief Controller (Missiles) Avinash Chander indicated that India's missile power will be enhanced with Defence scientists now working towards increasing the range of various missiles. The range of surface-to-air missiles, which is presently 50 km will be increased to 300 km. DRDO is also aiming to increase the range of air-to-surface missiles up to 400 km and air-to-air missiles up to 300 km. He added that work was on the 'seek and destroy' class of missiles, smart bombs and underwater cruise missiles has also started.
DRDO Chief (Missiles) also praised the achievement of the DRDO ‘s missile lab called Research Centre Imarat in the past two and half decades. He added that the Research Centre Imarat had developed advanced technology of avionics, including navigation systems as well. Currently, it is developing navigation on chip, telemetry on chip, seeker on chip and entire avionics on a single board. Besides, with the current focus on having the entire avionics on a chip, a nano missile with low cost and low weight is also what DRDO is aiming for.
As for the Chief Guest Abdul Kalam, founder-director of the Research Centre Imarat, he lauded the efforts of DRDO and its contribution to the indigenous missile technology. He added that the convergence of bio, nano and information technologies could lead to development of nano robots.
As for the Research Centre Imarat Director Mr.S.K.Chaudhari, he stated that the centre has transformed itself into a frontier aerospace technology for performance evaluation of flight systems. The centre specialized in evaluation of flight systems, sub-systems and onboard mission software and integrated missile system performance from pre-launch till its impact.
Meanwhile, at another DRDO ceremony, DRDO Chief Dr.VK Saraswat has announced that higher allocation of funds at the review stage has been demanded by DRDO from the government in view of major programs like short-range surface-to-air missile (SR-SAM), LCA Mk-II, and Advanced Technology Vehicles Programme (ATVP) . Besides, the establishment of a Defence technology commission on lines of the ISRO and Atomic Energy Commission has also been initiated.
DRDO Chief VK Saraswat stated that DRDO is planning to work on the Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SR-SAM) Pravira project for protection of critical infrastructure, micro-nano satellites and satellite-based communication systems. As for the DRDO schedule for 2012, Saraswat added that the major goals include flight test of Interceptor missile for targets of 5000 km range class missiles, first flight of Nirbhay sub-sonic cruise missile and maiden flight of AEW&C system in India with all systems integrated. |