DRDO - Defense Research and Development Organization

DRDO stands for Defense Research and Development Organization, which works for the defense ministry of India. It works for developing the defense support technologies like guns, aeronautics, armaments, missile, land compact engineering, electrical engineering, life science, material, and naval system. There are almost 52 laboratories under DRDO which makes it the most varied and largest research organization. There are almost 5000 scientists and about 25,000 subordinate scientific, technical, and supporting staff that belong to DRDO.

Defense Research and Development Organization works on the slogan "Balasya Mulam Vigyanam"-the source of power is science-drives the country in harmony and fight. The main focus of the Defense Research and Development Organization is to work to make India strong and self-established in the field of technologies and science; mainly the armed forces and military technologies and they are proving themselves very well.

Origin of DRDO

The DRDO was founded in 1958 first but at that time it was combined with a defense science organization. Later in 1980, a separate Defense Research and Development Organization was formed. In the beginning, DRDO was a small organization with only 10 Laboratories but with time it started getting wider and with the number of laboratories and unexpected achievements, DRDO is now a world-ranked organization. Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam was the first chairman of the DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organization).

Mostly, the defense research and development organization had to work as a seller and the army headquarters or air headquarters were the only consumers of it as neither the army nor the air headquarters were having any design or construct responsibilities. They treated DRDO as their designer in the world market. If they can get a MIG-21 from the world market, they want to get a MIG-21 from DRDO. Since it was established, DRDO is the developer of many major types of equipment and important technologies which are avionics, UAVs, small arms, artillery systems, EW Systems, tanks, and armored vehicles, sonar systems, command and control systems, and missile systems.

Main motives of DRDO

DRDO has the following main motives;

• To increase the technical power of the Indian Armed Force
• To make India more powerful and ready for war situations
• To develop and increase the awareness in Indian scientists to develop new technologies in our country
• To encourage the reading habits and library among the scientific and technical fields in India
• To make better communication and a friendly environment among the fellow scientists, so that they can exchange ideas among themselves.

Responsibilities of DRDO

The DRDO has the following responsibilities or plays the following roles-

Managing the technologies

DRDO takes the responsibility to manage the technologies; they have different departments to manage things. The DIITM (Directorate of Industry Interface & Technology Management manages the responsibilities of TOT and other departments which are given below.

1. Transfer of Technologies (TOT)

Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is working as the R&D hub which creates defense technologies, systems, or types of equipment for the Indian Armed Force. They also take responsibility to support the research boards, Technology development funds (TDF), and Extramural Research.

Some of the technologies created by the Defense Research and Development Organization have good potentials and are also very popular in civilian markets but after re-assuring about the dual licensing rights from defense departments, thus through this way DRDO is playing a good role in developing technologies and science in India.

2. Limited series production (LSP)

The Main work of LSP is to fix the issues and maintain a production line of the product before the bulk productions. The work of Limited Series Productions (LSP) is mostly time-bounded.

3. Technology Acquisition through Offsets provision by DDP

The Directorate of Industry Interface & Technology Management handles all the matters related to technology Acquisitions of DRDO, the technical manager sends all the technology Acquisitions Proposal to DIITM, DRDO Headquarters. These proposals are charged by the Technology Acquisition Committee.

4. Export of Military Products

DRDO has access to allow the NOC (No Objection Certificate) to the Indian Industries to Export Military Products to support the friendly countries.

5. Access of DRDO Test Facilities to Industries

The Labs of DRDO have some test facilities included in the State of Art Infrastructure. These test facilities provide access to Indian Industries to manufacture the Defense Equipments.

Industry Interface

The DRDO is in partnership with 1800+ industry partners and they all created many systems, equipment, inventions, and technologies to support the Indian Army.

India as the "superpower in space"

In March 2019, after the successful launch of "Mission Shakti", India became the fourth country to get anti-satellite capability, which makes it a space superpower after China, Russia, and the United States. This project was done by the scientists of the Defense Research and Development Organization and makes India stronger in the field of weapons and militarization. This project wasn't created to target any country or for any violence or terror by the country but it was an achievement just to make the country stronger.

Main Achievements of DRDO

In previous many years, Defense Research and Development Organization has achieved lots of projects or achievement in various departments at the various time, In all those the main Achievements based on various departments are given below;

i) In the field of "Ground-Based, Ship Borne, Air Borne & Man-portable Radar Systems"

• Rajendra Radar developed for AKASH Weapon System for IAF & Indian Army
• 3D Surveillance Radars for IAF, Indian Army & Navy - Rohini, 3DTCR & Revathi
• Man-portable Radars for IAF & Indian Army - Bharani, Aslesha, BFSR
• Radars for Low-Intensity Conflicts - Ground Penetration Radars & Through Wall Imaging Radars
• Active Phased Array Radars - Medium Power Radar (MPR) - Arudhra, Low-Level Transportable Radar (LLTR) - Ashwini.

ii) In the field of 'Ground-Based, Ship Borne & Air Borne COMINT, ELINT & EW Systems'

• Program SAMYUKTA - Integrated EW System for Plains & Deserts for Indian Army.
• Program SANGRAHA - Family of EW suites for different Naval Platforms
• Advanced ESM System for Capital naval ships (VARUNA)
• Internal Electronic Warfare (EW) System for Radar Warning and Jamming (RWJ) for upgraded MiG-29 platform Multi-Emitter
• The production model of Ground-Based Mobile ELINT System

iii) In the department of 'Communication Equipment, Software Defined Radios & Satellite Terminals'

• Data Links, Advanced VLF Modulator & Demodulator and Troposcatter Communication System

iv) To enhance "EO equipment"

• Electro optics-based Border Surveillance System
• Driver Night Sight (DNS)
• Light Weight Portable Laser Target Designator (LWPLTD)

v) As "Directed Energy Laser Systems"

• Tactical grade 2kW and 10kW Directed Energy Laser systems

vi) In the department of "Laser-Based Instruments & Laser Sources"

• Ruggedized 1 kW Fiber Laser Source.
• OTL 300
• Explosive Identifier systems for detection of explosives

Major functions of DRDO

• To update and advise Defense Minister about the development in the technology related to national security
• To provide suggestions to Defense Minister and all the armed forces about the technical features of weapons
• Plan and execute programs for defense related research in the field of national security
• Direct and supervise the laboratories, facilities, and projects of the department
• To take part in acquisition and evaluation of weapons systems and allied technologies that are to be acquired by the Defense Ministry
• To assist institutions financially and related to raw material for their study and training purposes related to science and technology in the field of national security

The director, chairman, and other higher authorities of DRDO

• G Satheesh Reddy is the chairman of the Defense Research and Development Organization. He is also the top defense scientist in the country; He guides the DRDO for all the major projects. He is known as one of the best leaders for the Indian Armed forces.
• Mayank Dwivedi is the director of the Directorate of Industry Interface & Technology Management (DIITM) at Defense Research and Development Organization. He is a gold medalist in M.E in polymer technology.
• Ajay Kumar is the Defense Secretary of the Defense Department.

Recruitment process in DRDO

The DRDO stays careful about the staff, these are the steps to get recruited as a scientist in DRDO;

• Direct Recruitment by the Scientist Entry Test.
• Transfer through other Group A Technical civil services, most people are transferred by the Indian Ordinance factories
• Delegation or having an agreement with suitable scientists and technologists from other research organizations.
• Incorporation in the civilian ability of technical officers from the Indian Armed Forces.

As having a huge responsibility, it is important that the DRDO members must have proper knowledge about the latest technologies, so this responsibility to train them is given to the training centers of the Indian Institute of Technologies, Indian Institute of Management, and the Indian Institute of Science, etc.

Conclusion

The DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organization) is one of the most important and valuable organizations of India. For years, it is working hard to increase the power and scientific technologies in India. It develops all the latest technologies, pieces of equipment, military weapons. DRDO takes the number of responsibilities to support armed forces and to make people aware of the latest developments.