Having obtained his BE (Hons) in Electronics & Communication Engineering from University of Madras and M.Tech in Microwaves and Radar Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur and Ph.D in Antennae and Measurement Techniques from IIT, Madras, DR. S CHRISTOPHER has been one of the most distinguished scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in the field of missiles and Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS). He was heading the Bengalurubased Centre for Airborne Systems before being appointed in May 2015 as the Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of DRDO. He spoke to PRAKASH NANDA about the changes in the work culture of the DRDO and its many success stories to dispel the common impression that the organisation was marked by lethargy and ineptitude. Excerpts from the interview:
Where does DRDO stand now that you have been associated with it since long and have been heading it for the last 2-3 years? What do you think are the important milestones?
How do you expect me to beat my own drum? But, I will try to answer that and it is not that I am trying to evade. See, about `1.1 lac crore equivalent of our products are getting cleared for production. Some of them were ordered within the last three years. So, I believe there is a one way of looking: that acceptability (of our products) is coming in. Number two, it could be because of us, it could be partly because, rather mainly because of the Prime Minister’s call ‘Make in India’, that people are looking at our products. Otherwise, probably our product was good. (But) Nobody cared for it. But now they have to care for it. Probably they are doing it. I am lucky. So, I am making use of that.
Plus I am also telling my colleagues - focus yourself and look at return on investment. If any lab is given some project, some product, for so many years you are consuming, not necessarily that that you will not be able to produce anything forever. It is a question of cycle. May be this lab is peaking today. Next year, that may not be able to have a product because every product gestation time is like slightly more next year; neighbouring lab will do some wonders. And overall, we should go ahead with that. See the new project, like the succeeding one. For instance, Akash (missiles) induction happened. Then followed none other than the torpedo Varunastra, Maareech, and 2-3 Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) Cochin products including the Sonars. Then, AEW&C and now the Astra is almost ready.
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