Tag Archives: range

Drdo

Defence industry may see spectacular growth after 2019 General Elections, says L&T’s Jayant Patil

2 Comments

May 16, 2018 12:28 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

The L&T Whole-Time Director expects capital spending, as part of the defence budget, to increase next year, resulting in higher project orders

Prince Mathews Thomas
@prince0879
Jayant D Patil spearheaded L&T’s foray into the defence industry in 1986, at a time few other private companies saw any promise in the heavily regulated industry. Patil, who joined the infrastructure heavy weight straight after passing out from IIT Mumbai in 1978, developed long-term relationships with the DRDO, and the Navy, among other defence establishments.

The early start is now helping the engineering giant. In 13 years since its debut in the market, L&T has become the largest private defence company in the country, and is bigger than most of the government-owned defence enterprises.

In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, Patil – Member of the Board & Whole-Time Director (Defence Business) at L&T – says that defence is one of the fastest growing businesses in the company. To reflect the growing importance of the vertical, the defence business is now an ‘independent company.’ And starting from this financial year, L&T will report the defence segment as a separate entity within its core businesses.

“We have the entire infrastructure in place. We have all the initiatives put in place. We have the R&D centres,” says Patil, adding that L&T is set for a spectacular growth.
For that growth to happen though, the central government will have to increase the proportion of capital spending in the defence budget. Patil is hopeful of that happening after the 2019 General Elections.

Excerpts from an interview:

The government has talked about developing capabilities domesticallyto reduce the dependence on imports. The Make in India campaign also focuses on the defence industry. Have you started seeing the difference?

The focus is there. The government has started putting programs in a competitive basket. Earlier projects would either go to a foreign player, or to a PSU. But now, for instance look at Navy. Earlier, 92 per cent of the warships or submarine contracts by value have been placed with government owned shipyards. As of now, except of old decisions, the government plans to allow private sector to participate in all future shipbuilding programs on competitive basis.

The issue is that things are not changing at the kind of pace what one would have hoped for and the quantum of money being allocated to enable new contracts. The current Budget allocations are just good enough to meet committed liabilities.

Why is that?
One should look at the budget allocation. Till 2014-15, 40 per cent of the defence budget would go into capital spending. Today, that has dropped to 20-25 per cent. And that it because of the huge increase in revenue costs (salary and pension payments).

That is something which the government did out of sheer respect for people who fought for the country. But the fact is that it has come at a huge cost for the future preparedness of Armed Forces. So money has become a constraint and allocations need to be enhanced.

And that has led to the slow pace?
Yes.

Do you think the situation will be better after the General Elections in 2019?
Yes, I believe that the reversal will possibly happen when the new Government comes around after the 2019 General Elections.

What has the present situation meant for L&T’s defence business?
So we have a scenario today where this is a market which shows huge promise. And we keep getting orders as and when a PSU gets a big contract. The public enterprises buy from us because we have developed these products in partnership with Defence Research Organisation (DRDO). So the business continues in “business as usual” state, the growth comes in with us getting few contracts directly from MoD.

But the growth could have been truly spectacular had Make-in-India programs taken off in a big way. We have the entire infrastructure, technologies, products and capabilities already in place. We have all the initiatives proactively in place. We have the R&D centers, design centers, and innovation groups in place. Earlier we used to have one, but now we have four R&D / Basic Design Centers to serve the defence sector.

What is your manufacturing presence?
Today we operate from Powai (Mumbai), Hazira, Baroda, Pune, Coimbatore, Vishakapatnam, Katupalli, New Mumbai and Bengaluru, which is more of an R&D unit, but also has a small production facility for strategic electronics.

Which is your largest segment?
The largest segment today is the artillery and Naval segments. The smallest segment what we are operating today is the space, missiles, communication, which are individually worth about Rs 100-200 crore per year.

What is the total order book now?
I can’t give you that number. But perhaps in another few months I can. From the 2019 financial year, we will be reporting defence business as a separate entity within the L&T core business. So wait for that.

Although we have been operating defence business for three decades, we had created defence as a separate independent company (IC) as an entity, with its own board, in the FY 2018.

A few reports last year said your order book was of about Rs 12-15k crore…Holistic if we look at it, we are bigger than that.

So all the defence businesses will be brought under this IC?
All the defence offerings are under this IC, except for very strategic construction programs.

Could you give an idea of how big your defence business is?
If I look at comparisons, HAL and BEL (Hindustan Aeronautics, which has revenue of about Rs 17,000 crore & Bharat Electronics, which has a revenue of about 10,000 crore, respectively) are larger than us. But we are slightly bigger than the other PSUs. You should remember, we were never allowed to produce until licensing began in 2002 and began getting direct orders from MoD only in 2005. In 2002, we got the first license. It’s just been 16 years now.

L&T forayed into defence even before that, with partnerships with DRDO and other defence establishments. How has the early start worked for you?

Across the segments, we have built capabilities that are unmatched. Be it warships, submarines or weapon systems, today our portfolio and offerings are ahead of competition. No other company has a portfolio range and depth as that of L&T. We don’t produce weapons as yet. But we make weapon launching systems and fire controls across the range. We can offer complete solution for an anti-submarine warfare, air-defence, land attack, or anti-ship warfare role to a warship. So, there is no domain in weapon programmes which L&T doesn’t touch.

And because we have in-house capability, we have forged partnerships where we also bring in unique value. As a result, L&T has 250 MoUs and just 4 joint ventures (equity based) while we have preferred to engage in non-equity JVs / partnerships through joint development and joint production mode. ​

Would you consider hiving off the defence business as a separate entity?

No, it is and will stay as a part of core of Larsen & Toubro.

But would you eventually list the business?
I don’t see that, not at least for the next decade or two. As for now, we are better off being part of the L&T core.

Is the defence biz growing faster than the other parts in the L&T core?

Percentage growth wise, I would say it’s among the better growing ones. But the fact is that the scale today is smaller than many other construction & hydrocarbon businesses. So if I look at the entire portfolio of L&T, defence, smart world, power transmission and water are businesses growing faster than others in percentage terms.
First Published on May 16, 2018 12:22 pm

Drdo

India test-fires medium range nuclear capable Agni-II missile

Leave a comment

Times of India, PTI | Feb 20, 2018,
BALASORE: India on Tuesday test-fired its medium range nuclear capable Agni-II missile with a strike range of 2,000km from Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast, defence sources said.
The trial of the surface-to-surface missile was conducted from a mobile launcher at the launch complex-4 of the integrated test range (ITR) at around 8.38am, the sources said.
The Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) has already been inducted into the services and Tuesday’s test was carried out by the Army’s strategic forces command (SFC) with logistic support provided by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), they said.
The 20-mt-long Agni-II ballistic missile has a launch weight of 17 tonne and can carry a payload of 1,000kg over a distance of 2,000km.
The state-of-the-art missile, already a part of the country’s arsenal for strategic deterrence, was launched as a training exercise by the armed forces, a DRDO scientist said.
Agni-II, a two-stage missile, equipped with advanced high accuracy navigation system and guided by a unique command and control system, was propelled by solid rocket propellant system, he said.
The entire trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and two naval ships located near the impact point in the down range area of the Bay of Bengal.
Agni-II was developed by the advanced systems laboratory along with other DRDO laboratories and integrated by the Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad, sources said.
The missile is part of the Agni series of missiles which includes the Agni-I with a 700km range, Agni-III with a 3,000km range, Agni-IV and Agni-V both having long range capabilities.
The first proto type of the Agni-II missile was carried out on April 11, 1999 and last launch was a user’s trial on May 4, 2017.

Drdo

DRDO testing drone falls in agricultural field in Karnataka’s Nayakanahatti

Leave a comment

By Express News Service | Published: 21st February 2018
CHITRADURGA: A drone operated by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for surveillance crash-landed at an agriculture field belonging to Bangarappa of Doreyagalahatti village near Nayakanahatti of Chitradurga district on Wednesday morning.

The drone which was launched to test the capabilities of its surveillance from the Chitradurga Aeronautical Test Range (CATR) of Challakere taluk took off well from outer perimeter of the range, but fell in the field at around 8 am said Bangarappa. This is the first time a drone fell down during the testing in Chitradurga district.

Scientists Saravana, Shivabalasubramanyam and others visited the crash site and collected the drone and other equipment and took it back to their centre.

The 20 kg weighing drone lost connection with the radar immediately after taking off from the testing arena and fell within a radius of three kilometers from the range in a Ragi field. However, no problems, loss of valuables or life has been reported.

Palamma, an agricultural labourer who was working in the field was shocked when the drone fell on the field. Speaking to Express she questioned, ‘I am still in a state of shock, if it fell on me what might be my fate?’.

‘When I was watering the Ragi plants, the drone came down very fast, I feared to its speed and ran for my safety,” she added.

Bangarappa said, “Falling of drone in my field has created a fear psychosis in me and my neighbouring fields. DRDO without consulting farmers is conducting drone testing programmes nearby the fields. They should consult farmers in future to avoid such accidents.”

If any casualties would have taken place during the accident who would have been responsible, he asked.

According to a scientist, the drone was fitted with a camera and was being tested to conduct surveillance on the borders to ensure that no intruders enter into the Indian territories. Immediately on knowing the failure of the drone, scientists and officials of the CATR arrived at the crash spot and collected the drone from the spot. Nayakanahatti police are investigating the incident.

Drdo

Extension for Nirbhay, panel to identify flaws

Leave a comment

By Hemant Kumar Rout | Express News Service | Published: 07th January 2017
BHUBANESWAR: India’s own cruise missile project Nirbhay has got an extension of 18 months amid speculations over the weapon system’s operational capabilities. Launched in 2004, the projected date of completion for the prestigious project was December 31 last.

At a recent review meeting, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar gave green signal for the extension. Ministry of Defence sources said the Nirbhay team has been asked to deliver their best by June, 2018.

Under developmental trial since 2013, the missile is yet to perform as per the expectations. Of four tests in as many years, the indigenously developed weapon had failed three times though it could cover the intended range once in 2014.

Meanwhile, an independent technical committee has been formed to identify faults in the system that led to failure of the missile during its fourth trial on December 21.

The probe committee led by founder director of ISRO Inertial Systems Unit Dr Nagarajan Vedachalam will not only ascertain the faults but also recommend possible measures to make the system robust.

Like in its maiden trial and third test, the missile had veered off the trajectory minutes after take off during the last launch and the mission had to be aborted mid-air.

An official associated with the project, however, informed that the blame game between two laboratories of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) cost the project more than the faults in the system.

While Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), which has designed the missile, has been blaming Research Centre Imarat (RCI) for supplying defective hardware, the latter points fingers at ADE-developed software for recurring failure of the missile.

‘’The probe committee will ascertain which is defective, the software or hardware. It may also inspect metallurgical deficiencies,’’ the sources said.

Having a strike range of around 1,000 km, Nirbhay is first homegrown subsonic cruise missile project. According to DRDO, the missile can challenge weapons of its class.

Nirbhay blasts off like a rocket and unlike a missile, it turns into a vehicle akin an aircraft. Flying at tree-top level, it can deceive enemy radars making it difficult to be detected. Unlike other ballistic missiles, this cruise missile has wings and distinct tail fins. After reaching near the target area, it can hover around, hitting at its will from any direction.

Drdo

DRDO’s cruise missile project Nirbhay on verge of closure

Leave a comment
Nirbhay is the country’s first indigenously built long-range sub-sonic cruise missile | EPS

By Hemant Kumar Rout | Express News Service | Published: 23rd December 2016
BHUBANESWAR: Once a pride for Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), India’s own cruise missile project Nirbhay is on the verge of closure.
A highly placed source told ‘The New Indian Express’ that the project is likely to be closed as the missile has failed to deliver desired results even 12 years after the project was launched. A review of the project will be conducted shortly.
Nirbhay is the country’s first indigenously built long-range sub-sonic cruise missile which can be compared with America’s Tomahawk in terms of its capability. Designed by Bengaluru-based Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), the missile was designed to fly at different altitudes ranging from 500 meters to four km.
Launched in 2004 at a cost of Rs 48 crore, the projected date of completion (PDC) for the prestigious project was December 31, 2016. However, under trial since 2013, the missile is yet to perform as expected after four attempts in the last four years.
The project has been plagued with difficulties as the scientists are still struggling to fix the problems in the flight control software and navigation system while some others point fingers at the hardware.
While the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) blamed ADE-developed software, ADE was pointing towards the defective hardware supplied by RCI. “However, it could not be ascertained which is defective, whether the software or hardware, but Nirbhay missile failed in its fourth attempt,” an insider said.
There has been problem with the control software since beginning. The RCI had developed navigational hardware for their applications and it was adopted by ADE for Nirbhay. There are always differences between ADE and RCI regarding its functional efficacy, the source claimed.
Defence experts have raised questions on the requirement of such a subsonic missile, which can cruise at a speed of 0.8 Mach, when supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, developed jointly with Russia, is already inducted in the armed forces.
BrahMos, which flies at a speed of Mach 3, has a strike range of 290 km. Though Nirbhay can strike targets 1,000 km away, with India joining the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), it can now develop long range cruise missiles as joint ventures.
While initially the expected cost of ‘Nirbhay’ was around Rs 10 crore per piece, DRDO has so far spent more than Rs 100 crore on R&D and trials.
DRDO Chief Selvin Christopher and Project Director of Nirbhay Vasanth Sastri did not respond to the calls and queries from ‘The New Indian Express’. Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister G Satheesh Reddy, however, said he is unaware of any such move.                           

Drdo

Rustom-II UAV to be tested in Chitradurga

Leave a comment

Kalyan Ray, New Delhi, Jul 11, 2016, DHNS
dh 11The first flight of India’s new combat-capable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Rustom-II is scheduled to be held by the end of July in Chitradurga test flight range.

Scientists at the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) would move to the test range later this week for the trial as an window between July 28 and August 2 would be kept open for the flight in the presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Once ready, the medium-altitude, long-endurance (Male) UAV is likely to be an asset for the military not only for its surveillance capability, but also for its ability to be used as an unmanned armed combat vehicle in the line of the US’s Predator that New Delhi is interested to buy.

“Rustom-II is a very big platform with a range of 250 km. However, for the first flight we will be flying it up to a distance of 50-100 km,” said a source associated with the UAV’s development.

Compared to Rustom-I that was test flown for the first time in November 2009, Rustom-II will be having Electronic Intelligence, Communication Intelligence, Medium and Long-Range Electro-optic Payloads and Synthetic Aperture Radar that will enable it to see through the clouds.

“Rustom-I is a primitive vehicle with minimal capabilities. Rustom-II, on the other hand, has several capabilities, including the ability to carry weapons,” G Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri, told DH.

Once fully ready, Rustom UAVs are meant to replace Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicles being used by the air force and the navy. The aircraft is named after former Indian Institute of Science professor Rustom Damania, who pioneered aviation research in India in the 1980s.

Addressing a seminar on UAV in Delhi last November, an ADE official stated that the three services initially projected a requirement of 76 of these platforms.

However, like many other defence research and development organisation (DRDO) projects, Rustom-II is also facing time overrun as the production schedule, first fixed for 2016, has now been pushed to 2017 with the possibility that it may get further delayed.

The biggest challenge faced by the scientists is the excess weight of the airframe. The airframe had a weight of about 2,400 kg by 2015 end, which ADE scientists would have to bring down to about 1,700 kg in the final version for accommodating every sensor package.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd partners DRDO in the development of Rustom-II and has committed several hundred crores as financial support.

Drdo

Interceptor missile tested 7 times, DRDO’s Rajinikanth moment still far

Leave a comment

The system would be able to tackle incoming ballistic missiles of range up to 2,000 km
Written by Sushant Singh | New Delhi | Updated: May 4, 2015 3:20 am

A Ballistic Missile Defence system is based on an interceptor missile shooting down an enemy missile mid-air. It needs ground radars, command-and-control systems and data links. India’s BMD does not yet have geo-stationary satellites.
A Ballistic Missile Defence system is based on an interceptor missile shooting down an enemy missile mid-air. It needs ground radars, command-and-control systems and data links. India’s BMD does not yet have geo-stationary satellites.

The proposed Ballistic Missile Defence system is supposed to blow enemy n-missiles out of the sky as they fly towards Delhi. But last month’s test failed, and many questions remain unanswered.
DRDO’s promises and seven tests notwithstanding, the plan to put a nuclear missile defence shield over Delhi remains a work in progress.
The unsuccessful test of an interceptor missile last month swung the spotlight back on the proposed Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system. Think of Rajinikanth firing a bullet to destroy the bullet fired by the villain in mid-air. That’s what a BMD system does: it provides a city with a protective shield where an incoming enemy ballistic missile is shot down by interceptor missiles.
ballistic-missile-graphBesides the interceptors, a BMD consists of radars — satellite-, ground-, and sea-based — to detect and track a missile and its warhead, data communication links to pass on the information, and a command and control system.
DRDO first spoke of a BMD system in December 2007. All building blocks for Phase 1 of a two-layered, fully integrated system were to be in place by 2010. In March 2010, Dr V K Saraswat of DRDO promised initial systems deployment by 2013.
On May 7, 2012, DRDO declared it had developed a Missile Defence Shield that could be put in place at short notice at two selected locations in the country, presumably Delhi and Mumbai. The system would be able to tackle incoming ballistic missiles of range up to 2,000 km. DRDO also said that long-range tracking radars, real-time data-link and mission control systems needed for the perationalisation of the BMD had been “realised”.
The fact is the BMD system is at the moment not even close to being put into operation. Last month’s unsuccessful test at the Chandipur range was the seventh time the BMD interceptor missile has been tested. It was its second failed test, although the first failure was not of an interceptor, but due to a faulty target missile.
Washington-based emerging and space technologies expert Dr Bharath Gopalaswamy said, “Interceptor technologies are test-intensive and never foolproof. We have to wait until DRDO releases the data for these tests — which I suspect they never will — but for the moment, I would contextualise this as part of a routine test phase.”
A senior DRDO official told The Indian Express that they hoped to conduct another test within a couple of months. “It is part of the development process. This was the first time we launched the interceptor missile from a canister. The target was also a more difficult one than the simulated Prithvi missiles used earlier,” the DRDO official said.
According to Gopalaswamy, this is something to be expected with hit-to-kill technologies. “Dr Saraswat (former DRDO chief) declared missile defence capabilities as operational but the failure in such tests exposes the vulnerabilities in the system,” he said.
MILES TO GO
According to Air Marshal (retd) M Matheswaran, “a development trial by DRDO will not result in an operational system so soon. We can only expect to get a technology demonstrator at the end of the ongoing tests. Even the US took three decades to produce a BMD system. A fully mature BMD system is at least a decade away. The political leadership must be made aware of this reality”.
The BMD system was proposed to India’s political leadership by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in the mid-1990s, a former cabinet secretary told The Indian Express. It was triggered by Pakistan’s acquisition of M-11 missiles from China. The proposal was to provide cover for Delhi, Mumbai and two other strategically important sites. DRDO is believed to have started work on the programme in 1999.
The armed forces were brought into the loop only a decade later, a senior Indian Air Force officer told The Indian Express. A BMD system cannot be operated in isolation; it has to be networked with existing IAF sensors for better situational awareness to avoid friendly fire, or shooting down of own aircraft or missiles. IAF already has a fully integrated air defence system, and the complexities of deployment will have to be resolved as and when the BMD is put into operation.
“There is no direct involvement of the armed forces in its development even now. The IAF, which is the end user, must be closely involved,” Matheswaran said.
DO WE NEED IT?
Many experts argue that the BMD can take on only a limited number of incoming missiles, and will invite saturation salvos from the enemy. Western non-proliferation activists have said India’s BMD will encourage Pakistan to expand its nuclear arsenal to fire multiple missiles. Bharat Karnad of the Centre for Policy Research said BMD was a “hit-and-miss” system whose reliability has been questioned by various US studies.
Last year, the US General Accountability Office questioned the reliability and efficacy of the Pentagon’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) programme, a system similar to India’s BMD. The Pentagon accepted that the GMD system provides “a limited capability against a simple threat”. Senator Tom Coburn’s report last year estimated the GMD system’s success rate at 30 per cent. DRDO has, on the other hand, promised 99.8 per cent reliability for its BMD system.
Unlike the GMD, BMD does not have early warning radars or satellite tracking of an enemy missile. The delayed detection capability reduces the time available for interception of, say, a Pakistani missile to around five minutes. Also, the BMD system can only intercept missiles launched from 900-1,000 km away; the Chinese Dong Feng-21 ballistic missile with a range of 1,700-2,000 km cannot be intercepted.
The BMD is expensive. Ballpark estimates for defending one Indian city vary from Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 2.5 lakh crore. At the higher range, it is more than India’s annual defence budget. The US continental system is estimated to have cost more than $ 100 billion so far, the GMD system $ 41 billion.
“A system that doesn’t work, costs a lot, and can’t handle multiple attacks will breed a false sense of security and compound our problems. All this talk of deployability of a BMD is premature. What we need at best is a technology demonstrator,” Karnad said.
“We have no expert committee like the US JASON to validate projects like the BMD. India has scarce resources. To use them judiciously, a high-level technical committee should validate all strategic projects proposed by DRDO or the armed forces,” he said.
Whatever the case, India’s ‘Rajinikanth’ gun can’t fire yet. As the Americans like to say, “The real problem with ballistic missile defence is that it is rocket science.”

Drdo

Agni 5, India’s Longest Range Ballistic Missile, Successfully Test-Fired – NDTV

Leave a comment

NEW DELHI: India today successfully test-launched Agni-5, its longest range ballistic missile, for the third time off the Odisha coast. The missile was launched from a canister from Wheeler Island, giving it higher road mobility.

The three stage, solid propellant “missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from the launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 8.06 hours,” ITR Director M V K V Prasad said.

“The missile, witnessed a flawless ‘auto launch’ and detailed results will be known after all data retrieved from different radars and network systems,” he added.

With a range of 5000 km, the nuclear-capable missile can carry a warhead in the east as far as all of China and in the west all over Europe.

The three-stage missile is about 17 metres long and weighs 50 tons. The first rocket engine takes it to a height of about 40 kilometres. The second stage pushes it to about 150 kilometres. The third stage takes it to about 300 kilometres above the Earth. And the missile finally reaches a height of about 800 kilometres.
The missile travels faster than a bullet and can carry 1000 kilogram of nuclear weapon. It can be launched only on direct orders from the Prime Minister; India hopes it turns out to be a weapon of peace not war.

Unlike other missiles of Agni series, the latest one ‘AGNI-5’, is most advanced having some new technologies incorporated with it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine, Mr Prasad said.

India carried out two successful tests of the basic version of Agni-5 in 2012 and 2013.

The development of Agni-5 began in 2009 and according to DRDO it will likely be inducted in 2015.

Agni-5 gives India the ability to launch nuclear weapons from land at will from anywhere in India. It will give India the ability to hit back or have second-strike capability even after a nuclear strike.

It was also a super charged farewell gift for DRDO chief Avinash Chander who retires today. India’s Integrated Missile Programme has been a resounding success with the Agni missiles giving the country a credible nuclear deterrence. As a scientist and team leader, Dr Avinash Chander has achieved significant success in his work.

 

 

Drdo

Contractual DRDO Employee Arrested for Supplying Strategic Information to Pakistan ISI Agent

5 Comments

a youth for his alleged links with Pakistan Security Agency ISI, the tremor of espionage seems to have resurfaced in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the country’s elite defence establishment.

In a major breakthrough, Balasore police on Friday arrested a contractual employee of Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the Odisha coast on the charges of sharing vital strategic information with suspected agents working against Government of India. A number sophisticated missiles of the country are test fired from this test range every year.

The employee Iswar Chandra Behera (35), a native of Kantipur village under Baisinga police limits in Mayurbhanj district was picked up from his home after a joint investigation by the Central Intelligence Bureau (IB), State Intelligence Wing and local police.

A Plus three pass out from Remuna College, Behera had joined ITR with a monthly salary of Rs 8,000 in August 2007 and was working as a contractual videographer in the CCTV section of control tower in ITR.

Sources said following the IB inputs, a special wing of State police led by Balasore SP Awinash Kumar tracked his movements and caught him. DIG (Eastern Range) Asheet Panigrahi said though he initially denied his links but later confessed that he was sharing information from the test range to the agent. He has been booked under various sections of anti-national act and criminal conspiracy.

Police have seized two cell phones, a computer, one hard disc, pen drives, bank passbooks, bank account statements and a UPS from his house. Stored data and information are being analysed by technical persons.

He was in connection with the suspected ISI agents for more than one year and has received Rs 35,000 in six installments in between December 2013 and December 2014. He had received money orders twice, each of Rs 5,000 from Meerut while four transactions – twice Rs 5,000 and twice Rs 7,500 were deposited in his Chandipur SBI account through net banking.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that he has received money from Abu Dhabi, Meerut, Mumbai, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. On the pretext of repairing his camera he used to visit Kolkata where he met the agent. We have proof of their telephonic talks for at least ten times and the calls were from Pakistan. We have only verified his one bank account among many others which are being checked,” he said.

The DIG informed that Behera was sharing defence secrecy and information about the testing of missiles and vital defence installations located in Chandipur and Wheeler Island. As he was a videographer he had close access to all sensitive areas in both the test ranges.

“A case under sections 121 (A), 120 (B) of IPC and Sections 3, 4, 5 of Official Secrets Act, 1923 has been registered against him. He has been produced in the court. We have appealed the court to take him on remand for 14 days,” he said.

Intelligence sources said the Pakistan agent had introduced himself with Behera as Sribastav, a scientist of Hyderabad-based Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL). Though the agent had given him two cell phone numbers, it is learnt, they did not receive any call from this end.

“They would call back him from nine digit numbers to collect information and in lieu they transfer him money. We are verifying whether the agent has visited the place,” the source informed.

Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is the premier intelligence service of Pakistan along with two others Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Military Intelligence (MI), operationally responsible for providing critical national security and intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan.

This incident assumes significance in the wake of possible terror strike threats from four Pakistan-based terror outfits in Odisha along with Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The States were informed that the terrorist groups Jamat-Ud-Dawa, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e- Mohammed had dispatched four terror modules to India, which may carry out the attacks.

Earlier in 1995, a couple of Sunhat area of Balasore was arrested from Chandipur for allegedly supplying information to Bangladeshi operatives. These two, who are no more now, were released after languishing in jail for over ten years.

Drdo

DRDO Greets New Defence Minister With Successful LRSAM Test

Leave a comment

By Hemant Kumar Rout | ENS Published: 10th November 2014 -The Indian Express

BALASORE: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Monday greeted new Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar with the successful test firing of new generation state-of-the-art long range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) Barak-8.

Barak_8
A model of Barak-8 missile | EPS

Defence sources said the missile, developed jointly by the DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), was test launched from the weapon test range in the Negev desert of Israel at about 10.20 am as per Indian time.
A DRDO release stated that the missile successfully intercepted a manoeuvring air-breathing target mimicking an attacking combat aircraft. The test also validated all the elements related to the naval and land-based variants of the missile including the phased array radar, battle management system, communications and the interceptor.

“After detecting the incoming aerial target through the system’s radar, the weapon system calculated the optimal interception point, launched the missile into its operational trajectory that acquired the target and successfully intercepted it. All the weapon system’s components met mission parameters successfully”, the release stated.

Barak-8 is an Indo-Israeli surface-to-air missile (SAM), designed to defend against aircraft, anti-ship missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In January 2007, India and Israel had signed a US$330 million deal to co-develop an all new generation of the Barak SAM, which has been named as Barak-8.

The missile has a length of about 4.5 meters, a diameter of 0.54 meters, wingspan of 0.94 meters and weighs around 275 kg including a 60 kg warhead which detonates at proximity. The missile has maximum speed of Mach 2 with an operational range of 75 km to 100 km. It possesses high degrees of maneuverability at target interception range.

A second motor is fired during the terminal phase, at which stage the active radar seeker is activated to home in on to the enemy track. Barak-8 has been designed to counter a wide variety of air-borne threats, such as anti-ship missiles, aircraft, UAVs and drones as well as supersonic cruise missiles, the sources added.

The test was carried out in the presence of DRDO scientists and officials of the Indian Armed Forces. The system is developed for both Israel defence forces and Indian armed forces. Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and DRDO Chief Avinash Chander and President of IAI Joseph Weiss witnessed the test along with top officials of Israel defence forces.

According to IAI, Barak-8 employs a state-of-the-art phased array multi-mission radar, two-way data link and flexible command and control system. Congratulating scientists, Chander termed the event as a milestone in cooperation between the two countries in developing advanced weapon systems.
9 Comments

devasis • 24 days ago
Parrikar the nation wants some action from you. Let us make our arms ourselves.
The 80,000 crores we spend on importing arms could have been spent on health and education.

Davanand Atomic Singh • a month ago
All this weaponry and yet still an army jawan and a civilian is dead. Are we using the weaponry for the right reasons? Here the minister is greeted with the launch whilst there are families crying for their loved ones. Can we correct ourselves and use the equipment for the right reasons and not shelve them for no purpose. These weapons have to be exploited or the enemy will just take control of our country, through intelligence or actions.

ron ban • a month ago
Interesting thing is that India has co developed with Russia a ship killing missile named Brahmos …………… and with Israel has co developed a missile named Barak 8 to protect ships from Brahmos type missiles.

Mohit • a month ago
Do some more test and install this system in our new frigates and aircraft carrier “Vikramaditya”. They have been deployed without missile defense system.

NSR • a month ago
Since India paid for the development of LRSAM and MRSAM, does it get the Intellectual Property completely, or share with Israel, or no IP at all?
How did Israel allowed to sell Barak-8 to other foreign countries? Does India also has right to sell it too if it wishes…

Mohit NSR • 25 days ago
India have contributed by developing rocket motor and actuation system for Barak-8 missile. IAI have worked on target seeker and radar. DRDO should have acquired technology from Israeli.  This missile can be sold to other nation only when allowed by both India and Israel.
It is good that other nation are getting interested in acquiring this system as it will help in making money out of this and developing more advanced weaponry. 2) In the long term , India can sell off other missile system to these country as they have more confidence on Indian built systems 3) selling to friendly nation can help us in long term.

nicky NSR • a month ago
its a co-developed system so both have equal right over lrsam . yes India can export it any country but both India and Israel must agree first .if for example India wants to sell lrsam to Brazil but Israel not interested then the deal cannot go through .

NSR nicky • 25 days ago
I read somewhere that Israel is not going to transfer full technology of seeker and radar to us even though they used our money to develop it…I heard that they just supplied blueprints and India had trouble producing seeker from the supplied data…
After successful flight, even IAI president acknowledged that without India’s money it would have remained a design project only…
So I hope they do really transfer all technology and do more joint R&D, design, and manufacturing projects…