Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

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India Plans Lunar Landing Using Scramjet Hypersonic Space Plane - An ambitious vision of the future - Softpedia

India Plans Lunar Landing Using Scramjet Hypersonic Space PlaneThe United States, Russia, India, Japan and China have all announced plans to send astronauts back to the Moon around 2020. India's space agency, although lacking the level of funding found in the US and Japan, has an ambitious plan for the next decade.

In a statement made this spring by India's then
president, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the country wants to launch its first lunar orbiter, the Chandraayan-1, in early 2008 and a manned mission to the moon sometime near the end of the
next decade.

The Indian space agency is now working on a revolutionary, reusable launch vehicle (RLV) that takes an innovative approach using a scramjet "hyperplane" according to Kalam. India's scramjet RLV, Kalam asserted, will provide the "low-cost, fully reusable space transportation" that has previously "denied mankind the benefit of space solar-power stations in geostationary and other orbits," Technology review reports.

A scramjet is a type of jet that uses a supersonic flow in the combustor and consists of a constricted tube through which inlet air is compressed by the high speed of the vehicle, a combustion chamber where fuel is combusted and a nozzle through which the exhaust jet leaves at higher speed than the inlet air.

This new design could offer many applications, like low-cost satellite launching and manned missions to space and will be capable of high speeds, in excess of Mach 10, which means that it could make the flight between Sydney and London in just two hours.

The first flight of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HTDV), a protoype for the scramjet RLV named Avatar, is scheduled for the end of next year, and if it is successful, it will be a revolution in space exploration.

Avatar will be a light aircraft, weighing only 25 metric tons and to get into space, it will use liquid hydrogen to fuel the turbo-ramjet engines, 60 percent of which will be used to defeat Earth's gravity and ascent to a cruising altitude.

"The Avatar RLV project will enable the Indian program to leap ahead of the Chinese nostalgia trip. Once low cost to orbit comes alive, it will drive cheaper methods of doing all our unmanned activities in space," said Gregory Benford, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Irvine, and an advisor to NASA and the White House Council on Space Policy.

 

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Redirect Notice

AVATAR

A surprising entrant in this race to develop a commercially viable scramjet based hyperplane is our own country, India. The 'Aerobic Vehicle for hypersonic Aerospace TrAnpoRtation' (AVATAR) is a hyperplane concept from India. It is planned to be the size of a MiG-25 fighter and would be capable of delivering a 500 kg to 1000 kg payload to low earth orbit at a rather petty rate of Rs 3500/- per kg assuming an airframe life of 100 launches.
Weighing only 25 tonnes - 60 per cent of which is liquid hydrogen fuel - Avatar is said to be capable of entering into a 100-km orbit in a single stage and launching satellites weighing up to one tonne.


AVATAR would take off horizontally like conventional airplanes from conventional airstrips using turbo-ramjet engines that burn air and hydrogen. Once at a cruising altitude, the vehicle would use scramjet propulsion to accelerate from Mach 4 to Mach 8. AVATAR or Avtar was first announced in May 1998 at the 'Aero India 98' ehxibition held at Bangalore.
The AVATAR is being developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO. Air Commodore Raghavan Gopalaswami(Retd.), former chief of Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Hyderabad (which produces India's military missiles) is heading the project. The initial development budget is only $5 million, but project supporters claim that the vehicle can be built in ten years with total funding of under $2 billion. Designers admit, however, that international assistance would be required for the project to reach its goal.

In addition to the DRDO team working on the conceptual design, development of technology components is being undertaken by as many as 23 academic institutions (IITs, IISc etc) in India as well. A Hyderabad-based private company CIM Technologies is also participating in the project.

Both the scramjet engine concept and the liquid oxygen collection process have already undergone successful tests at DRDO and at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. DRDO has approved further testing of the liquid oxygen process and assigned a team to conduct a detailed review of the vehicle’s design.

Currently DRDO plans to build and fly a scaled down version called Light-Avatar (LAVATAR?), weighing just 3 tonnes at take off. To be built by CIM technologies by 2006, mini-Avatar will not go into space but will demonstrate all technologies used in Avatar including oxygen collection. It will use the India's Kabini jet engine.

It is claimed that the real AVATAR would be viable by as early as 2013-2015(!) - provided international co-operation is available.

 

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A scramjet that cruises at 17290 km/hr - Newindpress.com

A scramjet that cruises at 17290 km/hr
Saturday August 9 2008 15:53 IST

An Indian double has caught global attention in the hypersonic race for cheap and cost effective launch technology.

Bidding for their rightful place among the world’s majors, two of the country’s premier agencies are in the advanced stages of proving scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) technology to meet their respective strategic needs.

While the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) for launching satellites, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is dreaming about a Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator (HSTD) to carry a range of weapons faster and farther.

Both have set a 2010 deadline. And both are in the pre-fabrication stage. But ISRO has the edge as it has already carried out a seven-second experimental combustion of a test engine. To state that both the projects are progressing at somewhat the same pace won’t be far off the mark.

But there’s a remarkable design difference between the RLV and the HSTD. ISRO’s hypersonic plane, being built at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, is a winged body while the HSTD is a sleeker structure. The only common architecture, perhaps, is the air intake scoop at the front through which atmospheric air will be sucked in before oxygen is separated from it to oxidise the onboard fuel.

This is how the scramjet bypasses the need to carry an oxidiser on board. In a conventional rocket, the fuel and oxidiser are stored separately and burnt in a regulated combustion of eight grams of oxygen to one gram of fuel. But in the scramjet, oxygen is isolated from the air, compressed and introduced to a stream of fuel.

To ensure that sufficient oxygen is ingested for a self-sustaining flight, the scramjet must get to supersonic speeds before going ahead with its designated mission of launching a satellite for ISRO or delivering a warhead for DRDO.

This speed is achieved by coupling the scramjet to a conventional rocket during the initial phase of the flight. "We will mount the RLV prototype on a sounding rocket (S9). The rocket will speed it up to Mach 5 before the body is allowed to surf and suck air for onboard combustion. This process fires the scramjet and propels the payload to the desired orbit at speeds between Mach 8 and 10," says VSSC director K Radhakrishnan.

The DRDO plans to use a core-alone Agni stage (S1). The capsule containing the HSTD will ride on Agni to stratospheric heights. After the first stage separates, the capsule shifts to a horizontal alignment and opens up to allow the HSTD to skim the atmosphere and breathe air.

“We’re in an advanced stage. The shock tunnel test will soon be conducted. Our plan is to have a 400-second flight by 2009,’’ says M S Sundareshan, technical adviser at the Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad. The DRDL is currently firing its test engine in a ground facility.

“The initial results are promising. We achieved significant thrust value,” says Sundareshan, adding that achieving hypersonic levels is a challenge that no nation except the US has met. The DRDO needs such speeds for weapon delivery at very great distances. The job is now done by Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles.

But like space rockets, ICBMs are a very costly chemical proposition. “The hyperplane can fly in at fast speeds, fire the missile or launch the warhead and return. The reusability will reduce our costs significantly,” says DRDL director Dr Venugopalan.

Cost figures in ISRO’s calculus as well. “The cost of launching a satellite using conventional rockets like the PSLV or GSLV is $25,000 to $28,000 per kg. The scramjet can reduce it to $500. This will make any nation with such a technology a launch destination,” says Radhakrishnan.

One great attraction is that the RLV can be brought back and reused. “The conventional rocket is expendable. Each stage burns out as the payload soars. But the RLV will come back after its mission,” he says.

ISRO will land the RLV on the sea using parachutes. But a project to facilitate its landing like an unmanned aircraft is on the anvil. DRDO also plans to land it like an aircraft. “We’ve a few UAV projects going where this technology is being experimented with. It can be integrated with the HSTD,” sources say.

Another frontier that scramjet research has opened up is advanced metallurgy. “We’re talking about a craft that moves at great speeds, breaks off from the atmosphere and re-enters, weathering high temperatures and atmospheric friction. There are several new alloys being developed. Apart from their use in scramjet vehicles, this research will impact the whole gamut of strategic metallurgy,” says Dr G Malakondaiah, director of the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad.

India is experimenting with silica-carbon-silica and nickel-based alloys to cover the scramjet. Both alloys have high thermal resistance. A prototype using these alloys will be subjected to wind tunnel tests to gauge their strength against the vagaries of the atmosphere and beyond.

It is but natural for anyone to wonder why two Indian agencies are developing the same technology in parallel, with so much, except the sophisticated nature of the end-use, in common. ISRO insiders blame it on the absence of a pro-active culture within DRDO’s portals; the latter finds fault with ISRO’s big brother attitude.

“It’s the typical Indian defence story,” says one former top gun of ISRO. “In a way, it’s a blessing in disguise. Whoever proves it first will attract global attention. With the country inching closer to the concept of aerospace strategic forces, there will be a lot of give and take once the technology is proved indigenously,” he adds.

And the scramjet will place India in a league of nations that includes the US, Japan, China, Russia, Australia and Europe where this nascent technology is the latest scientific fad.

 

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India Sets Long-Delayed Scramjet Test for Next Year | Parabolic Arc

India plans delayed scramjet flight test for 2010
Flight Global

India's first scramjet technology demonstrator will be flight-tested next year, four years later than planned and having failed to meet two previous targets, by the government-run Defence Research and Development Laboratory in Hyderabad.

The Indian military wants to use scramjet systems for a hypersonic missile. The first demonstrator flight test will be carried out at India's integrated test range on its east coast.

Flight International revealed in 2004 that the country had planned a 2006 scramjet test. When that failed to take place, Israel Aerospace Industries announced in 2007 it was helping India develop the technology for a first flight in 2008.

"The biggest challenge [will] be how to sustain stable combustion during the high-speed trans-atmospheric flight of the vehicle," says sources at the Indian government's Defence Research and Development Organisation, under which the laboratory operates.

India has longer-term plans to use scramjet technology for its proposed 25,000kg (55,000lb) spaceplane called Avatar, the Sanskrit word for a god who appears in bodily form on Earth. The spaceplane would ferry civilian and military satellites of about 1,000kg into a low Earth orbit.

 

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domain-b.com : Israel and India working on hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle

Israel and India working on hypersonic technology demonstrator

Hyderabad: The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation are working together on a hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV). The work is moving apace with the intention of conducting a test flight sometime in 2008.
DRDO is developing the HSTDV to demonstrate a kerosene-fuelled scramjet engine capable of powering air-breathing vehicles to a speed of Mach 6.5-7. It is the stated aim of the project to reduce the cost of putting payloads into orbit by a factor of 100, i.e. to $200/kg ($90/lb). Some of the wind tunnel testing for the project is being performed by the IAI.

India is already conducting extensive research on special materials for thermal protection of the HSTDV, including carbon-carbon composites, nickel-based superalloys, niobium alloys and high thermal conducting copper alloy.

Indo-Israeli RAM/SCRAMJET cooperation
Meanwhile, at a prestigious scientific conference dealing with "High speed trans-atmospheric air and space transportation" conducted in the Indian city of Hyderabad from June 29-30 and inaugurated by the Indian president, and distinguished aerospace scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, some hints were dropped about the Indo-Israeli cooperation in this area.

The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)'s president & CEO, Itzhak Nissan, was invited as a guest of honor at the event in deference to his personal activities in India, where he leads a number of advanced technological projects.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Kalam mentioned that Ram/Scramjet engine technology had already been designed and tested by both Russia and the US since the 1960s and most recently by the US through the Flight Technology Demonstrator, X-43. The president also mentioned that India too had "…designed and tested scramjet engines, both kerosene fueled and hydrogen fueled, on ground test facilities.

In his speech, the President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, praised the growing cooperation between India and Israel at large and the cooperation with IAI in particular.

In his lecture, IAI's president & CEO, Itzhak Nissan, said "IAI, the leading aerospace industry in Israel, is partner for a wide range of commercial and military projects in India. In these projects, we manage to express the capabilities that are mutual to both countries. We are proud to be partners with the superb capabilities demonstrated by the Indian development and manufacturing teams working on some of the most advanced projects in the world."

Mr. Nissan added that: "IAI expresses profound appreciation for the high level of scientific level and motivation that can be found at India's research institutions and aerospace industry."

During the conference, VK Saraswat, the chief controller (R&D), DRDO and chairman of the Aeronautical Society of India, made a presentation on the commercial Hyper Sonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle. The ground test for HTDV scramjet propulsion system using kerosene as fuel has been conducted by DRDO scientists at a high speed material testing laboratory abroad and the results have been encouraging, he told reporters at the event.

This would be a reference to the wind tunnel and other experiments being carried out by the IAI.

 

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DRDO signs six pacts to commercialise its technologies


New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Military research body Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Monday inked six memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with private partners to commercialise six technologies developed by it.
The technologies are a multi-insect repellent based on diethyl phenyl acetamide, woolcare, explosives detection kit, mobile water purification system, a High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema (HAPO) chamber and an electro-chromic window.

This will enable DRDO to develop technologies and partner industries that will make them globally competitive. The MoUs were signed under Accelerated Technology Assessment and Commercialisation Programme, a joint initiative of DRDO and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), in the presence of Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju and DRDO chief Vijay Kumar Saraswat.

“The joint initiative is aimed at helping industries to absorb high-quality DRDO technologies and apply them commercially to produce quality and reliable industrial products at an affordable cost to the consumer,” Raju said in his address.

“DRDO labs have been undertaking a large number of projects in wide-ranging areas of science & technology related to the Indian armed forces. Though the end-products are for military use, many of the technologies that are developed to realise these systems can have civilian applications. These technologies and products may have large commercial potential and wide application in India and abroad,” Saraswat said.

A proposal for providing incentives to scientists who are behind these innovations is also on the anvil and DRDO hopes to introduce it soon.



More at : DRDO signs six pacts to commercialise its technologies

 

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PIB Press Release

Pallam Raju exhorts defence scientists to come out of cocoon, partner with industry

The Minister of State for Defence Shri MM Pallam Raju has called upon defence scientists to come out of their cocoons. Addressing an MoU Signing Ceremony under the DRDO-FICCI Accelerated Technology Assessment and Commercialization (ATAC) Programme here today, Shri Pallam Raju asked the private industry to become motivational tools for the scientists. Some of the technologies developed by the DRDO’s 50 laboratories spread across the country have immense applications in industry and everyday life and the ATAC programme has successfully harnessed the spin-offs of defence technology, he added.

Dr VK Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and Director General (Defence R&D) said the DRDO has unveiled a robust programme of collaborating with the Industry, both PSUs and Private, and Academies. The Academicians will help in Innovation and the Industry in Delivery while the DRDO would serve as their interface, he added. Over 100 scientists from as many as 26 DRDO laboratories have been exposed with the Industry under the two-year-old ATAC programme, said Dr. Prahlada, Chief Controller R&D (Services Interaction), DRDO. In his opening remarks, Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI said 45 technologies including Explosive Detection Kit, HAPO Chamber, Electrochromic Glass, RO-based Mobile Water Purification System and DEPA Multi-Insect Repellant Cream have already been identified for commercial exploitation through the ATAC process.

Six MoUs for Technology Transfer between DRDO and industry houses were signed on the occasion.

 

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India working on anti-satellite capabilities: DRDO

fullstory


New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) India today said it was making the "building blocks" of the technology to develop anti-satellite capabilities as part of its space security measures.

"We are making the building blocks of technology for the space security measures and they are of two types, active and passive. So, we are developing both these elements in this programme," DRDO chief V K Saraswat told reporters.

He was responding to queries on India's plans to develop capabilities to destroy satellites in space while speaking on the sidelines of a function to sign MoUs between DRDO laboratories and private industries to commercialise technologies developed by the defence research organisation.

Asked about the developments in the indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence programme, he said, "the (BMD) test is going to be conducted in February.

 

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The Hindu : News / National : ‘DRDO technologies have immense everyday applications’

An IED handling robot exhibited by the DRDO. MoS for Defence Pallam Raju said the DRDO's research would be used extensively in everyday applications. File photo


Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju on Monday asked private industries to become motivational tools for scientists working in defence labs and harness the spin-off benefits of defence technology.

Addressing the gathering, after a Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)-Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Accelerated Technology Assessment and Commercialisation (ATAC) Programme here, Mr. Raju said some of the technologies developed by the DRDO’s 50 laboratories have immense applications in industry and everyday life.

V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and Director-General (Defence R&D), said the DRDO has unveiled a robust programme of collaborating both with public sector undertakings and private industry, and with academies. Academicians will help innovate, industry will assist in delivery, while the DRDO would serve as their interface, he added.

Over 100 scientists have worked with industry under the two-year-old ATAC programme, Dr. Prahlada, Chief Controller R&D (Services Interaction) of the DRDO said.

Identified

FICCI Secretary-General Amit Mitra said 45 technologies — including the Explosive Detection Kit, High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema Chamber, Electrochromic Glass, and Reverse Osmosis-based Mobile Water Purification System — have already been identified for commercial exploitation.

 

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Indian Research Agency Agrees to Tech Transfers - Defense News

Some key DRDO projects in the pipeline include the missile development program under the Integrated Guided Missile Program launched in the 1980s - theater missiles, the Nag anti-tank missile and Quick Reaction Missile, and the ballistic missile program, including the 3,000-kilometer-range Agni-3; the Sagarika cruise missile program; an advanced UAV project; an Airborne Warning and Control System program for the Indian Air Force; a mini nuclear submarine project for the Indian Navy; Light Combat Aircraft; and Medium Combat Aircraft.

 

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The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | If nuked, at least your water will be safe

New Delhi, Jan. 25: A water filter that can withstand a nuclear, biological and chemical attack and slake parched throats despite a mushroom cloud hovering will shortly be available in your neighbourhood mall.

If that isn’t enough, the government has also chosen the auspicious eve of the 60th Republic Day to mark half-a-dozen military technologies for the retail market today.

The filter, using reverse osmosis, was so far produced by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) only for frontline soldiers who are assessed to be the most vulnerable in the event of a tactical nuclear or biological attack in a war scenario.

An American outfit, Texas University’s IC2 Institute, was engaged by the Ficci after it entered into an agreement for a technology commercialisation programme for the DRDO.

The DRDO offered 125 products to IC2, which specialises in identifying and assessing technologies. The outfit selected six. They are:

A multi-insect repellent used by soldiers in counter-insurgency operations mainly in the Northeast. A memorandum of understanding was signed with Jyothy Laboratories and Alkali Metals for the transfer of knowhow and for its marketing.

Woolcare, another insecticide. MoU with Jyothy Laboratories.

Electrochromic window, a technology that allows soldiers in the desert to electronically regulate the flow of light and heat through the specialised glass into their bunkers. MoU signed with GSC Glass.

The nuclear-attack-protected Reverse Osmosis-based water purification system; MoU signed with Deltapure Water and Ariva Group.

Explosive detection kit that helps in analysing the contents of a bomb, for installation in airports, railway stations and public spaces; MoU with Vantage Security.

High altitude pulmonary oedema chamber, used by soldiers in Siachen. DRDO says it can also be used for the elderly who suffer from hypoxia (difficulty in absorbing oxygen). MoU with MGM Associates.

 

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DRDO signs six MoUs with industry for technology transfer

New Delhi, Jan.26 (ANI): The DRDO-FICCI Accelerated Technology Assessment and Commercialization (ATAC) Programme reached a new landmark on Monday with the signing of six Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between DRDO and leading industry players.

Buzz up!
The MoUs will enable transfer of DRDO developed technologies to the partner industries and, in turn, make them globally competitive. The ATAC, a joint initiative of DRDO and FICCI, is aimed at helping industries to absorb high-quality DRDO technologies and apply them commercially to produce quality and reliable industrial products at an affordable cost to the consumer.


The industries that signed the MoUs today with DRDO are: Jyothy Laboratories Ltd. and Alkali Metals Ltd., for Multi-insect repellant based on DEPA; Jyothy Laboratories for woolcare; Vantage Security for explosive detection kit; Deltapure Water India Ltd. and Ariva Group for RO based Water Purification System; MGM Associates for High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema (HAPO) Chamber and GSC Glass Ltd. for electrochromic window.

The MoUs were signed in the presence of Mr. MM Pallam Raju, Minsister of State for Defence, Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, DG, DRDO and Secretary, Defence R and D; Dr. Prahlada, Chief Controller, R and D (Services Interaction), DRDO; and Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI.

DRDO labs have been undertaking a large number of projects in wide-ranging areas of science and technology related to the Indian Armed Forces. Though the end products are for military use, many of the technologies that are developed to realize these systems can have civilian applications. These technologies and products may have large commercial potential and wide application in India and abroad.

On the other hand, many industries are keen on new scientific inputs and processes for expanding their business. To unearth the hidden potential in the commercial market, DRDO through FICCI, launched the ATAC programme. This commercialization process is aimed at filling the technology gap in Indian industries.

A proposal for providing incentives to scientists who are behind these innovations is also on the anvil and DRDO hopes to introduce it soon.

FICCI has been successfully running the technology commercialization programme since 2007 under the banner of India Innovation Growth Programme.

FICCI has established a Centre for Technology Commercialisation to provide an organized structure to link the mind to the market. The Centre will be supported by the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. All activities of technology assessment and commercialization at FICCI would be undertaken as part of this Centre. Says Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI, "We would be supporting all public and private funded research organizations under this. We will continue to provide commercialization support to DRDO, DST and look forward to supporting organizations like CSIR as well." (ANI)

 

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Akash to secure our skies- TIMESNOW.tv - Latest Breaking News, Big News Stories, News Videos


After a decade and more of strenghtening the country's defences, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has accepted the Akash missile as part of its arsenal to counter Chinese air threat in the North East region.

The Akash missile system will help protect strategic targets in the North East, whether they are airfields, important bridges on the Brahmaputra, Railway Junctions, Power projects cities in the region like Guwahati.

The Air Force has already cleared the project and the defence acquisition council chaired by defence minister A K Antony is expected to clear it on the 28th of January after which four squadrons of Akash will be ordered to add to the two squadrons ordered on a trial basis earlier.

Some of the strategic installations in the North East region that the Akash missile system will help protect from Chinese threat:

- First is the Tezpur airfield where the Sukhoi 30 Aircrafts are stationed.

- The Chabua airfield is another important installation.

- Jorhat airfield and Mohanbari airfield will also be protected from enemy fire.

- Air fields apart other installations like BARC and other power plants will be protected

- A number of cities in the North East region.

Akash's specifications:

Operational range : 25-30 km
Length: 5.78 metres
Flight ceiling: 18,000 meters
Speed: 2.8 to 3.5 Mach
Launch weight: 720 kg

 

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Directorate of Extramural Research & Intellectual Property Rights (ER&IPR): Thrust Areas

 

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LIVEFIST EXCLUSIVE: Indian Air Force/DRDO's Laser Guided Bomb Trial