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Starship enterprise: Data Patterns is harnessing opportunities created by modernisation of India's defence sector - The Economic Times
Starship enterprise: Data Patterns is harnessing opportunities created by modernisation of India's defence sector
When an advanced version of Brah-Mos, a stealth supersonic cruise missile, was successfully test fired by the Indian Army in August this year at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan, a small company in Chennai, Data Patterns, helped it blast-off and hit the bullseye. Data Patterns has developed an indigenous launch computer and other systems that help the missile to automatically carry out a sequence of logical mission operations.
The missile can travel at nearly three times the speed of sound and hit targets up to 300 km away. BrahMos Aerospace, the $300-million joint venture between India and Russia, has opened up huge business opportunities for small hi-tech companies such as Data Patterns.
The company's founder and managing director S Rangarajan said they have executed projects worth .`100 crore for missile development. The company reached its major inflection point a few years ago, when it bagged a contract to develop fire control or launcher system for BrahMos, which is named after India's Brahmaputra River and Russia's Moskva River.
"We competed along with the big boys such as Tata, Larsen & Toubro and major public sector units. We won the contract because of the niche technology we had developed," says Rangarajan, a former state level table tennis champion.
The missile can carry a conventional warhead weighing 200 to 300 kgs. It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land.
With annual revenues of over Rs 100 crore and 500 employees, the firm counts Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation and many PSUs among its top customers. It has contracts worth .`150 crore in the pipeline.
"I am extremely pleased with the progress Data Patterns has made over the years. An excellent facility, dedicated team and a visionary management is what I have seen here. It is a right combination to achieve success," said a top DRDO official who did not wish to be identified.
However, it was not easy for Rangarajan, an alumnus of IIT-Madras, to crack the defence market. After a stint at technology major IDM, Rangarajan started Data Patterns in 1985 from a small rented room, with just Rs 11,000. The firm intially made scientific instruments and labaratory equipments.
Being a small hi-tech product company, it was difficult for Data Patterns to compete against imported systems. The tide changed when it bagged a project to make indigenous test equipment for Isro, which it had to buy from foreign countries.
Since the beginning of the first contract, Data Patterns has successfully built the launch count down system for the space agency.
This system continuously monitors the health of onboard equipments inside launch vehicles during the 48-hour countdown of the space missions and the data is sent to launch consoles in real time.
The firm has moved up the value chain by diversifying into electronic warfare systems, microwave defence systems, radars, hardware and software for airborne vehicles. These include key systems that enable the launch of other powerful missiles such as Akash, Nirbhay, Prithvi and rockets of Isro.
Starship enterprise: Data Patterns is harnessing opportunities created by modernisation of India's defence sector
When an advanced version of Brah-Mos, a stealth supersonic cruise missile, was successfully test fired by the Indian Army in August this year at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan, a small company in Chennai, Data Patterns, helped it blast-off and hit the bullseye. Data Patterns has developed an indigenous launch computer and other systems that help the missile to automatically carry out a sequence of logical mission operations.
The missile can travel at nearly three times the speed of sound and hit targets up to 300 km away. BrahMos Aerospace, the $300-million joint venture between India and Russia, has opened up huge business opportunities for small hi-tech companies such as Data Patterns.
The company's founder and managing director S Rangarajan said they have executed projects worth .`100 crore for missile development. The company reached its major inflection point a few years ago, when it bagged a contract to develop fire control or launcher system for BrahMos, which is named after India's Brahmaputra River and Russia's Moskva River.
"We competed along with the big boys such as Tata, Larsen & Toubro and major public sector units. We won the contract because of the niche technology we had developed," says Rangarajan, a former state level table tennis champion.
The missile can carry a conventional warhead weighing 200 to 300 kgs. It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land.
With annual revenues of over Rs 100 crore and 500 employees, the firm counts Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation and many PSUs among its top customers. It has contracts worth .`150 crore in the pipeline.
"I am extremely pleased with the progress Data Patterns has made over the years. An excellent facility, dedicated team and a visionary management is what I have seen here. It is a right combination to achieve success," said a top DRDO official who did not wish to be identified.
However, it was not easy for Rangarajan, an alumnus of IIT-Madras, to crack the defence market. After a stint at technology major IDM, Rangarajan started Data Patterns in 1985 from a small rented room, with just Rs 11,000. The firm intially made scientific instruments and labaratory equipments.
Being a small hi-tech product company, it was difficult for Data Patterns to compete against imported systems. The tide changed when it bagged a project to make indigenous test equipment for Isro, which it had to buy from foreign countries.
Since the beginning of the first contract, Data Patterns has successfully built the launch count down system for the space agency.
This system continuously monitors the health of onboard equipments inside launch vehicles during the 48-hour countdown of the space missions and the data is sent to launch consoles in real time.
The firm has moved up the value chain by diversifying into electronic warfare systems, microwave defence systems, radars, hardware and software for airborne vehicles. These include key systems that enable the launch of other powerful missiles such as Akash, Nirbhay, Prithvi and rockets of Isro.
