Government on Tuesday removed the chief of top defence research organisation Avinash Chander, 15 months before his contract was to end.
Former DRDO chief Avinash Chander's tenure was abruptly curtailed.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressing on the need for increasing arms exports, the Defence Research and Development Organisation has said India can sell combat aircraft and missiles whose production cost would be "much lower" than some of the weapons sold by countries such as China.
India's missile defence system is set to get a big boost as it is developing capability to intercept enemy missiles fired from a distance of up to 5,000 km, in effect tackling any possible threat from countries such as China. The capability is being developed by DRDO as part of the Ballistic Missile Defence shield, whose first phase is ready for deployment possibly in Delhi
The country's top rocket scientist V K Saraswat and Dipankar Banerjee, credited with developing critical materials for aircraft carriers, were among scientists decorated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Technology Day on Monday. Both received the 2007 Technology Leadership Award. The top-most defence research award was bagged by the Aeronautical Defence Agency, Bangalore for carrying out test firing of close combat air-to-air missiles in LCAs.
Presently, the US and Russia are the only two countries to possess such sophisticated technology.
Buoyed by the string of successes with the intermediate range ballistic missile Agni-III, India is planning to test a missile with 5,000 km range soon. The launching of the 5,000-km range missile would entail strapping a third stage booster rocket on Agni-III missiles powered by a solid fuel propellant. The test of the next series of Agni missiles will propel the country into the select group of nations which have long range ballistic missiles.
India has tested a 1,000 kg indigenously-developed glide bomb, which successfully hit a target 100 km away, in the Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast, making the country self-reliant in guided precision bombs.
The government is contemplating the bifurcation of the portfolio of DRDO chief as well as scientific adviser to the defence minister, which at present rests with a single person.
RK Gupta has complained to the defence ministry alleging victimisation.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said there was no controversy in the sacking of Avinash Chander as Defence Research and Development Organisation chief and it was he who recommended that the position should be held by someone from a "slightly younger generation" and not by someone on contract.
Eminent scientist S Christopher was on Thursday appointed as the director general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation for a two-year term.
The tests were conducted by the Indian Air Force, which will be the first service to induct the Akash missiles in its inventory.
The first canister-based trial of the 5,000 km-plus nuclear capable Agni-V long range ballistic missile is likely to take place on January 31.
Avinash Chander's contract was terminated 15 months before his term was over
Defence Research and Development Organisation plans to make the country "missile import free" by 2022, the agency has told the Prime Minister's Office.
By removing Avinash Chander last week, the government has chosen to sacrifice the organisation's most potent symbol of success
Under the project being undertaken by DRDO, robots would be developed with very high level of intelligence to enable them to differentiate between a threat and a friend.
Defence Research Development and Organisation Director General Avinash Chander on Saturday said that India's missile programme is purely aimed at peace in the country.
The indigenously made Agni V missile was test-fired from off the Odisha coast.
Defence Minister A K Antony has asked the Navy and the DRDO to maintain highest safety standards in the nuclear submarine fleet of the country after the mishap at the site of an under-construction vessel at Vishakhapatnam in which one person was killed.
With the Defence Research and Development Organisation facing "bitter criticism" over delays in major projects like Light Combat Aircraft and the Arjun tank, Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday asked the research agency to complete its programmes within the prescribed time-limit.
Seeking to enhance its precision strike capabilities, India is planning to replace its 150 km-range Prithvi ballistic missiles with the newly developed quick reaction Prahar missiles.
Ahead of United States President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi, an advance American team held talks on agenda and security-related aspects on Friday even as top Pentagon official Frank Kendall will arrive on January 21 to give final touches to defence-related content.
Saraswat played a key role in developing a series of missiles at a time when India faced tight international technology sanctions.
Among the programmes suffering from this lack of leadership is the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft project.
In yet another accident involving the Navy, one civilian worker was killed and two were injured in an accident at the under-construction nuclear submarine at the shipbuilding centre of Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam on Saturday night.
Thirty-two years after the project was sanctioned, the first indigenously-built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft was on Saturday handed over by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to the Indian Air Force, a red letter day for Indian defence and aerospace sector.
DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy Reddy is the first Indian to be appointed Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
A top Pentagon official will be heading to India next week to hold intense negotiations with Indian officials on critical defence issues and related areas of collaboration that could be announced during US President Barack Obama's visit to the country for Republic Day.
The Tejas has flown an unprecedented 450 test flights this year towards a splashy ceremony in Bangalore scheduled for December 20, where Defence Minister AK Antony will preside over its induction into the Indian Air Force, says Ajai Shukla.
In 2014, the prime minister criticised the communication gap between DRDO scientists, who remained ensconced in their laboratories, and the soldiers on the borders, says Ajai Shukla.
'It is just that we have our standards so low that anybody looks good now.' 'His sort of extremely terminological exactitude is a serious problem. He doesn't seem to understand the difference between exclusive economic zones, territorial waters...' 'I am expecting a lot of confusion because of this... Unless Parrikar starts going into the depth of the problems, he is only going to compound the problem rather than resolve it.'
This visa issue had gotten so embarrassing that former Defence Secretary William Cohen, now a member of the US-India Business Council's board of directors, who was presiding along with Ambassador Nirupama Rao at the launch, had to prevail upon Secretary of State John F Kerry and get the visas okayed.
Powering the Agni-1P will be the cutting-edge technologies developed for the Agni-4 and Agni-5 missiles.
From tackling cyber threat to having an an unmanned tank, there's so much DRDO wants to do
Sujatha Singh is the third senior official to have been dismissed by NDA.
There are a lot of very bad men out there. And Syed Asif Ibrahim is the best officer to deal with them. Aditi Phadnis reports
"A mere 5-6 per cent of defence budget for R&D is inadequate to meet the aspirations of India's defence needs especially when China spends about 20 per cent of their defence budget for R&D," said the DRDO chief.
Missile's range to cover China, West Asia, South East Asia and large parts of Africa
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