Contribution of DRDO in Indian Defence

DRDO is the R&D wing of the Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, with a vision to empower India with cutting-edge defense technologies and a mission to achieve self-reliance in critical defense technologies and systems while equipping our armed forces with state-of-the-art weapon systems and equipment by requirements laid down by the three Services. DRDO’s pursuit of self-reliance and successful indigenous development and production of strategic systems and platforms such as Agni and Prithvi series of missiles; light combat aircraft, Tejas; multi-barrel rocket launcher, Pinaka; air defense system, Akash; a wide range of radars and electronic warfare systems; etc., have given quantum jump to India’s military might, generating effective deterrence and providing crucial leverage. The Headquarters of DRDO are in New Delhi.

Contribution of DRDO

DRDO’s Contributions to Indian Defense – India’s leading R & D defense body, is the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The Directorate of Technical Development and Production, in collaboration with the Defense Science Organization, was founded in 1958.

The organization is run by the Indian government’s Defence Ministry. It was founded to promote military equipment research, design, and manufacturing. DRDO, on the other hand, has designed thousands of products with both military and civilian applications throughout its existence.

Various Programmes of DRDO:

Integrated Guided-Missile Development Programme (IGMDP):

It was one of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s major works to make Indian defense forces self-sufficient in missile technology.

The missiles developed under IGMDP are Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash, and Nag.

Mobile Autonomous Robot System:

MARS is a smart, robust robot to handle land mines and Inert Explosive Devices (IEDs), which helps the Indian Armed Forces disarm them from far distances despite hostile surroundings.

With some add-ons, this system can even dig the ground for the object and defuse the Improvised Explosive Device by various methods.

Highest Terrestrial Center in Ladakh

DRDO’s center in Ladakh is at 17,600 feet above sea level at Changla near Pangong lake, which is intended to serve as a natural cold storage unit to preserve natural and medicinal plants.

Roles & Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of DRDO are:

Policy Formulation

To conceptualize, formulate, draft and obtain approval of competent authority for the policies pertaining to recruitment, career progression, and personnel management of the entire workforce of DRDO spread in the various cadre.

Cadre Management

To formulate, obtain approval, and issue Recruitment Rules for all cadre and Encadred posts and review /amendments.

Manpower Planning

In a fast-changing environment and multi-disciplinary requirements of DRDO, dynamic and systematic workforce planning is essential. To ensure that the workforce planning reflects organizational requirements and conforms with laid down guidelines following measures are taken regularly.

• Integration of workforce plan with a technology plan.
• Forecasting of quality and quantity of workforce requirements.
• Authorization of staffing and vehicles among various DRDO laboratories, establishments, and work centers.
• Processing the cases for sanctioning additional workforce and creating posts and vehicles for DRDO.
• Management of schemes of research fellowships in DRDO.
• Process cases for sanction and amendment of Regular Establishment RE of laboratories /establishments.

The Roles of DRDO:

• DRDO engages in Defence R&D areas of mutual interest with Friendly Foreign Countries
• DRDO participates in all the G-to-G meetings at the MoD/MEA level
• DRDO conducts bilateral engagements in Defence R&D with the USA, UK, Russia, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea
• Coordinates Workshops / Seminars / Conferences / Brain-Storming sessions on various topics of Defence R&D
• Explore possible engagements with Industry and Academia

Area of Research for Centers

DRDO is exploring newer technology areas and creating new knowledge and capabilities for developing technologies through directed research that is either not mature enough for engineering development or where critical data/knowledge is denied to India. Acceptance of Necessity (AON) has been sought from Raksha Mantri for following broad areas of directed research, identified based on the futuristic need for Defence through the establishment of Advanced. 

• Technology Centers:
• Aerodynamics Research for Futuristic vehicles
• Robotics and Unmanned technologies
• High Power Directed Energy Technologies
• Cyber Security
• Next-generation Propulsion Technologies
• Advanced Computing and Computational Techniques
• Advanced Materials and
• Underwater Technologies

In these identified technology areas, targeted research aims to create an intellectual capital to realize the cutting-edge technologies. Therefore DRDO proposes to initiate Directed Research in the identified areas, through Advanced Technology Centres (ATCs) on University Campus, with defined research verticals by bringing academic knowledge and expertise in the country and the defense laboratory knowledge of applications on common platforms.

Conclusion :

Today, DRDO is a network of more than 50 laboratories that are deeply engaged in developing defense technologies covering various disciplines, like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles, engineering systems, instrumentation, missiles, advanced computing and simulation, special materials, naval systems, life sciences, training, information systems, and agriculture. Several major projects for the development of missiles, armaments, light combat aircraft, radars, electronic warfare systems, etc., are on hand, and significant achievements have already been made in several such technologies. Therefore, it is up to Roles and responsibilities of DRDO and the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) to manufacture the technology requested by the various defense services. It has played a crucial role in developing the country’s overall defense infrastructure, providing competitive alternatives to the technologies that India’s defense forces require.