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DRDO needs a major overhaul: House Panel

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DRDO needs a major overhaul: House Panel

A parliamentary panel, which examined the issue of preparedness of the country’s armed forces, defence production and requirement, has taken a dim view of the functioning of Defence Research and Development Organisation and felt it needs a “major overhaul”.

DRDO is the premier institution in defence research in the country, with more than 50 laboratories, 500 scientists and 25, 000 other scientific, technical and supporting personnel and has a budget of Rs 13,600 crore, which is about 5.5% of the total defence budget.

Noting that DRDO and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) are expected to be storehouses of strategic know-how in the development of missiles, armaments, light combat aircrafts, radars, electronic warfare systems and other defence hardware, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Estimates wondered as to why the country has to depend on foreign suppliers not just for sophisticated weapons but also for basic defence armaments.

“DRDO has not been able to meet nation’s expectations… the committee is of the view that the functioning of DRDO needs a major overhaul and its contribution in the context of country’s requirements need to be examined,” the panel said in a report which was adopted in its meeting on Tuesday.

The report is yet to be presented before Parliament.

The panel also referred to a CAG report of 2015 which had said that an examination of 14 mission mode projects carried out by DRDO laboratories revealed that all projects “failed to achieve their timelines” and the probable date of completion was extended many times.

The committee also flagged another report of a high-power committee constituted by the Ministry of Defence, which had reviewed the functioning of DRDO and had said that at least 11 laboratories of the organisation need to be closed down or amalgamated and its “non-core” research activities need to be stopped.

Referring to the high-power committee’s recommendation that DRDO needs to work with clearly defined objectives to develop weapon systems and platforms, the panel said that it feels that the end users – the three services – must be consulted on areas of research and development of weapon systems.

The panel also recommended the formation of an inter-ministerial group to facilitate collaboration among organisations such as SRO, DRDO and DPSUs.

It also called for “clear-cut road map” for meeting targets of Defence Production Policy, 2018, which aims at making India one of the top defence producers by 2025 with self-reliance in 13 areas covering almost the entire range of weapons and systems.

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Uncertainty dogs a leaderless DRDO

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Ajai Shukla | New Delhi May 4, 2015 Last Updated at 00:38 IST – Business Standard 
A sense of drift is palpable within the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), which has been without a leader for three months since the ouster of its widely respected chief, Avinash Chander, on January 31.

On that day, Defence Secretary R K Mathur was given additional charge of Chander’s post of Secretary, Defence R&D, for three months. That period expired on Thursday.

Mathur had held charge of only one of the three posts that Chander occupied – that of Secretary Defence R&D. The other two posts – Director General, DRDO, and Scientific Advisor to the Raksha Mantri – have lain vacant for three months.

The defence ministry is not alone in having key positions without incumbents. There has been no Chief Information Commissioner since August 22, and no Chief Vigilance Commissioner since September 28.

Without a chief, there are problems in coordinating between the DRDO’s seven technology clusters, each relating to a specific subject – e.g. aeronautics, missiles or naval systems. While cluster heads. called directors general, can function independently within their clusters, major development projects involve several clusters.

Among the programmes suffering from this lack of leadership is the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project. While the DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Agency oversees the Tejas project, it has no authority over the four technology clusters that feed into the LCA project. That coordination was always facilitated by the DRDO chief, who personally oversaw the LCA programme.

Another problem, say senior DRDO scientists, is professional insecurity caused by Chander’s unceremonious removal. On November 28, the defence ministry had granted him an 18-month service extension to head the DRDO till May 31, 2016. Forty-five days later, that extension was withdrawn.

The insecurity is most obvious among junior scientists, most of whom looked to Chander as an icon of the DRDO’s successful missile programme. “With such an accomplished scientist removed so arbitrarily, what job security do we have?” wonders a young scientist bitterly. Nor is there any clarity about who might succeed Chander. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said while removing Chander, he wanted someone good from the DRDO who has the urge for development. Parrikar also stated he wanted a younger scientist to head DRDO.buisness standard 4 may 2015With almost all the DRDO’s top scientists already on extension, or nearing the retirement age of 60, 11 of the DRDO’s 12 top scientists might soon retire.

Of these 12 “distinguished scientists”, the DRDO’s top rank, equivalent to a lieutenant general, six have already crossed 60 years and are serving on extensions. Another five are 59 years of age, knocking on the doors of retirement.

The only candidate who fits Parrikar’s twin conditions – being from the DRDO, and also young – is Satheesh Reddy, the highly regarded chief of Research Centre Imarat, a missile technology laboratory outside Hyderabad. Reddy is just 52 years old.

Even so, MoD sources do not rule out bringing in an outsider, possibly from the Atomic Energy Agency, to head the DRDO.

There is also speculation that the three hats the DRDO chief traditionally wore might be split into two or more posts. Opinion on this is divided. The Rama Rao Committee, which proposed reorganising the DRDO, recommended the three posts remain vested in a single person. The subsequent Naresh Chandra Committee recommended separation, though not trifurcation.

The departments of space and atomic energy, which are often held up as models the DRDO could emulate, centralise powers in a single chief. The chairman of the Space Commission also heads the Indian Space Research Organisation, while simultaneously advising the prime minister on space matters.

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India, US agree on arms deal, but technology transfer remains key

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Rajat Pandit, TNN | Aug 9, 2014, 05.34AM IST

NEW DELHI: India and the US on Friday agreed to go in for co-development and co-production of advanced weapon systems, with Washington pushing New Delhi for early decisions on offers ranging from the next-generation Javelin anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).Modi-Chuk

But India will not jump headlong into any venture without first ensuring the US sticks to its promise to provide “ground-breaking technology” on par with its closest allies, even though the Modi government is keen to strengthen the moribund domestic defence production sector.

The decision to revive the floundering Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) between the two countries, as also work towards the extension of the 10-year India-US defence framework, was taken after visiting US defence secretary Chuck Hagel held delegation-level talks with his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley.
But India is still not fully convinced about the US as a reliable long-term, high-end defence supplier, given its propensity to impose sanctions and stringent export control laws. The US, however, believes it can effectively marry trade and technology, with benefits for both.

Stressing that “security, stability, freedom of sea lanes, economic development and energy” is in the interest of the two countries as well as the Asia-Pacific region, Hagel said the US wants to be a partner in India’s military modernization and recognises its needs to strengthen its defence-industrial base.
The US will be led by its under secretary of defence acquisition, technology and logistics Frank Kendall in the DTTI. The Indian points-man, in turn, will be the defence production secretary, which is a comedown from before since former national security advisor Shivshankar Menon earlier led the initiative. Jaitley, incidentally, accepted Hagel’s invite to visit Pentagon when he goes to Washington to attend the annual meetings of IMF and World Bank.

Of all the joint development and production offers, the US is especially keen to push the case for fourth-generation Javelin ATGMs, which even President Barack Obama has personally pushed with Modi. The Indian ATGM project, after all, is going to be worth over $2.5 billion. Javelin is in contention with the Israeli “Spike” tank-killing missiles to bag the project, as was earlier reported by TOI.

With the 1.13-million Indian Army grappling with a huge shortfall of 44,000 ATGMs of different types, the project involves an initial direct acquisition of the man-portable “tank killers”, with a strike range of 2.5km, followed by technology transfer to defence PSU Bharat Dynamics for large-scale indigenous manufacture. The Army is keen to equip all its 382 infantry battalions with third and fourth-generation ATGMs.

Comments

Vladimir Sikorski (Ulyanovsk. Russia) 3 hrs ago
In the 50’s and 60’s the Russians supplied us with their MIG’s, T-72 tanks and other weapons. The technology was transferred at that time. What happened after that. Were you guys able to develop further from that platform and make your own planes. No. The French transferred their Mirage aircraft technology in the 70’s and 80’s. Did you develop your own from that platform. No. It took 30 years to develop a 3rd generation aircraft called the Tejas. The Arjun tank was forced on the Army. So why do you Indians keep harping about technology transfer. Even after we give you all the books and manuals and the design features for a product, your paan chewing babu’s of the DRDO and the Defence Ministry are unable to develop anything over and above that. It is way better and cheaper to employ German and Japanese engineers and scientists, pay them well in India and they will develop your arms industry for you. You don’t have much time. World War III is round the corner.

Himanshu Agarwal (Location) replies to Vladimir Sikorski 54 mins ago Bronze : 189189 PointsWordsmith 1News King 1Frequent Flyer 2
Yeah probably India should focus of Developing worlds class universities and then investing similar amount to restructure and new-hiring in DRDO.

Jagdish Sinha (Patna. Bihar) 1 day ago
The USA now is willing to give all the technology India wants as it knows that the idiots in DRDO cannot duplicate or build on anything. The technology for the MIG and the T-90 tanks was transferred by Russia long time ago but we are still unable to build on it and innovate based on the earlier model. It took 30 years to build the Tejas. What a joke it turned out to be. The tech for the French planes was also provided, but just to upgrade the planes they spent billions and had to send them to France. Poor show India.

Swami Vas (Hong Kong) 103 Followers1 day ago Gold : 19.5K19495 PointsInfluencer 7Wordsmith 7Networker 2
PULSE OF INDIA: The fact that India is unconvinced of the reliability of US as a trustworthy defence supplier is absolutely understandable and perfect, considering the past experiences where the US had utterly failed to keep its promises on some important deals. So, it is only right for India to insist that all major deals should be fair and wherever appropriate include transfer of technology which was rightly pinpointed by the Prime Minister. The US belief that it can “effectively marry trade and technology” benefitting both is simply yet another striking example of marriage of convenience! The defence needs of India are indeed varied and important, some even urgent, but the Indian requirements are also huge and long-standing. Thus, it is important for India to ensure continuity in the supply chain which can only be achieved by establishing manufacturing facilities within the country. The keenness of US to strike deals with India on the latest weapons is also equally understandable, especially considering the money-value of the deal as well as its own role as a leading defence equipment exporter but the US should know that from now on all deals with India will have to be on a win-win situation basis! However important or urgent the defence needs are to modernize its armed forces, India should indeed not hurry or plunge into any deals without knowing the depth! India is the largest democracy in the world followed by the US but whether they have been truly friendly or why the US has failed to extend a hand of friendship befitting that status are debatable issues. But one thing is for certain which the world should know that the 21st Century India presently under Modi leadership is going to be a power to be reckoned with! (cc: BJPCALL-LC / PMO /MOD)

Krishna Jha:22 hours ago US Is the leader in front line technology. Before signing any agreement we must ask for TOT. Why to reinvent the wheel. As our limitations to re engineer MIG has been unsuccessful but translating blue more..

 

Blogspot, Drdo

DRDO and EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse)

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We celebrated the “Vijay Divas” and remembered our Jawans and officers who laid their life in the “Kargil War,” 1999.
Nuclear conflict was a deterrent and the then government did not cross L-O-C. Kargil war compelled us to work hard on the front of enhance our Nuclear war head capability (a) Carrier (b) Protect our own electronic communication devices from Nuclear generated EMP, it is the event of Nuclear burst. DRDO has assigned the task in 1999
i)              To explore the protection mechanism against Nuclear generated EMP.
ii)             To explore the in house development of Non-Nuclear generated EMP i.e. EM Bomb
After 10 years general public has the right to know the progress made by DRDO in this most strategically important area and what amount of money has been spent by DRDO on this task.
DRDO has become the heaven of “bluffers” and the best part is that there is no `Accountability’. DRDO is functioning like an autonomous body except the fact that the salary is given by the Government of India.
If our honorable Defence Minister think to import Nuclear Protections Devices and EM Bombs for our Armed Forces, the price of rice will be go up @ Rs 200 per Kg and Atta (flour) will be cost @ Rs 150 per Kg.
But our honorable Defence Minister feels that he and his government is accountable to common people, than first fixing the accountability on 30000 strong, and so call highly qualified, highly paid work force with having more than Rs.80000 crores of infrastructure and utilizing, non-productively, a massive  budget of Rs 9000 crores annually.
Accountability is the foremost step towards making DRDO from a non-productive to a productive organization. Sideline the ‘Big Bluffers` only allow the projects viable and waited by the Armed Forces Chiefs like project on Nuclear and non Nuclear generated EM capability and protection against EM Bomb.
China unveiled Nuclear Submarine fleet on the occasion of 60th anniversary of its navy on April 2009. Now, with 4000 missiles they are coming closer to India.  

Fighting Corruption in DRDO