Can make any missile that Armed Forces want: DRDO
| Date :15-Oct-2020 |
By Ajit K Dubey
NEW DELHI :
“The way the country has evolved itself in the missile system and particularly in the last five to six years, various developments which are gone through in various tests, India has actually gained complete self-reliance in area of missiles,” DRDO chief said.
India can have complete hypersonic cruise missile system in 4-5 years. Rudram missile will give IAF capability to detect, attack enemy radars. SMART weapon system will help Navy in engaging enemy submarines from far-off distances, said Reddy.
BUOYED UP by the strength of successful missile tests in last 40 days, DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy on Wednesday said that India has achieved self-reliance in the field of missile systems and can produce whatever is required by the Armed Forces within the country itself. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has conducted around 10 successful missile tests in the last over five weeks including that of the Shaurya hypersonic missile, BrahMos extended-range missile, Prithvi nuclear-capable ballistic missile, Hypersonic missile technology development vehicles, Rudram I anti-radiation missile and the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release Torpedo weapon system.
“I would like to say one thing, the way the country has evolved itself in the missile system and particularly in the last five to six years, the various developments which are gone through in various tests, India has actually gained complete self-reliance in the area of missiles,” Reddy told ANI in an exclusive interview. “We are now able to develop any type of missile system what Armed Forces want,” he added when asked if there was no need for the Armed Forces to stop imports of missile systems.
The DRDO chief said that the private sector industry has also come up to a very good stage as “They are able to partner with us, they are able to develop with us, they are able to develop the system as per our specifications and as per the needs of forces.” Asked about the strength of successful missile tests at a time when India was engaged in a conflict with China in Eastern Ladakh, Reddy said, the DRDO was striving itself hard to develop the state of art weapon systems to equip our Armed Forces. “As part of that responsibility, DRDO has been working on many weapon systems. Even during the COVID-19 period, scientists have been continuously working on that.
All have matured and hence whenever a system is ready, we are going further developmental trials,” Reddy said. Asked about DRDO’s contribution to the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, DRDO Chief said , “DRDO has “given 108 items completely designed and developed by the industry. We have instituted technology fund to support such industries and we have given our test facilities open to them.
Now, we are taking industry partners right from the beginning of the projects.” Talking about the Rudram-I missile system that was successfully test-fired recently from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft near the East coast and it hit its intended target successfully there, Reddy said, it would require a few more tests to be completely proven and will provide Indian Air Force with the capability to strike enemy radars including surveillance and air defence systems.
About the SMART weapon system that was successfully test-fired for the first time on October 5 where a supersonic missile was used to launch a torpedo against a simulated submarine as a target and the test was fully successful, Reddy said, once fully developed, the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release Torpedo (SMART) weapon system would boost the Navy’s anti-submarine warfare capability. The DRDO test-fired the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) on September 7 which is expected to lay the foundation for the development of a hypersonic cruise missile system. Reddy said the scramjet engine developed by the DRDO has been tested for a specific time to see how it is working.