12 MISSILE SYSTEMS IN 2 MONTHS, DRDO IS ON ROCKET FUEL

With a flurry of back-to-back weapon tests successfully validating new and indigenous technologies, DRDO is all set to play a pivotal role in fulfilling the ultimate dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat in the new decade, explains R CHANDRAKANTH

- R CHANDRAKANTH

In September and October, 2020 alone, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted 12 tests of missiles or systems for missiles belonging to a vast spectrum of operations for the Indian armed forces. Never, in its history, since inception in 1958, has DRDO done such a flurry of tests and with enormous success.

These technologies/ platforms are not something which get developed overnight, more so in governmental organisations. They have been in the pipeline for varying periods, but got tested ‘strategically’, sending a signal to any adversary that India is not sitting quiet, even during the pandemic. The standoff with China was real and any ‘posturing’ was effective. The missiles/ systems from the DRDO stable were lethal, to say the least, and they helped in that ‘posturing’. And it was for all the services of the Indian armed forces and there seemed to a ‘strategy’. Whether it has paid off not is a different matter, but one thing for sure, it showcased India’s defence capabilities, particularly from a government enterprise.

From its first major project in surface-to-air missiles (SAM) known as Project Indigo in the 1960s to the BrahMos, a medium-range ramjetpowered supersonic cruise missile, DRDO has come a long way, despite all the constraints a governmental organisation carries with it. Over the years, DRDO has deployed several platforms that speak volumes of its capabilities in its pursuit of self-reliance and successful indigenous development and production of strategic systems.

Missile power