Hyderabad:

Nearly 40 private industries from Hyderabad and almost 150 industries from all over the country contributed to the success of Agni-V, the long-range Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) that was test-fired successfully on April 19.

Director general of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and scientific advisor to defence minister, V K Saraswat on Saturday said the role of private industries was significant in the development of the missile that put India in an exclusive club. The private industries contributed major sub-systems as required by the DRDO.

Saraswat was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the ‘luminary sessions’ organised by the Aeronautical Society of India, Hyderabad branch. The Agni-V team, including Saraswat, Avinash Chander, chief controller, R&D (missiles and strategic systems) and others were felicitated on the occasion.

Even in so far as the production of the weapon systems that the DRDO develops, Saraswat said he favoured a partnership with the production agency, right from the time the product is developed by the DRDO. This, he said, facilitates better transfer of technology. “Our strong opinion is that DRDO should have an important say in who the production partner should be,” he said. In reply to a question, he said defence minister A K Antony had also felt so.

Saraswat said, several countries had shown interest in buying the Akash missile but it would not be possible to make the supplies because of the limited production facilities available in the country. Declining to name the countries which had shown such interest, he said these were countries which were friendly to India. “It is not possible to make supplies without our own requirement being met,” he said.

The DRDO chief said the ongoing missiles programmes in the country were worth Rs 40,000 crore and if other programmes also included, it could go up to Rs 80,000 crore. He described the private participation in the success of missile as “huge significance.”

The DRDO chief said the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’ would be inducted into the Indian Air Force this year. He said a naval variant of the LCA was successfully test-fired on Friday. He said the first ship-fitted with Long Range Cruise Missile (LRCM) would also be rolled out in 2013-14.

In reply to a question, Saraswat dismissed the ‘Tatra’ trucks issue as an aberration’.

Explaining about the future projects, he said among the many things he visualised were a solar-powered aircraft by 2040. About Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD), he said the tracking from the mission control centre as part of defence would have to be done in real-time communication network.

For many projects to materialise, Saraswat said self reliance was important and there was a need for nearly 500 engineers to join the defence establishment for acceleration of the current projects.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / April 27th, 2012