| By Anantha Krishnan M. | AVIATION WEEK |
Bangalore | India | December 21, 2010 |
Bangalore | India | December 21, 2010 |
India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has set its sights on some big-ticket missile projects, driven by a new philosophy aimed at combating program delays, cost overruns and controversies. The man in the thick of the action is Avinash Chander, director of DRDO’s Hyderabad-based Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), who has been developing some critical programs, especially the Agni class of missiles. With industry showing signs of confidence in being party to India’s future missile missions, Chander feels the time has finally arrived to step on the gas with renewed focus. “There were many issues in the past with our missile programs and we have analyzed them all threadbare. It is an era of collaboration, sharing one’s strength. DRDO, [for] its part, has also realized that the success mantra for our survival is to deliver quality products on time,” Avinash tells Aviation Week during the India Thought Leaders (ITL) interview series.
AW: What kind of potential are we looking at for India’s missile programs?
A.C: For the first time, India is seeing a huge potential in missile programs. It is predicted that we will need Rs 40,000 crore ($8.8 billion) worth of missiles and systems in the next five years. We haven’t seen this kind of a magnitude before. There’s a huge potential for long, medium, [and] short-range surface-to-air missiles (LR-SAM, MR-SAM and SR-SAM). Then there’s a need to develop more anti-tank and anti-radar missiles. Another area in focus is precision-guided munitions (PGMs) and shoulder-fired weapons. The list is long and we have to work concurrently to meet the needs.
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