DRDO turns Fifty

Here's the "backgrounder" that the government released today to ring in the Golden Jubilee event of DRDO. Incidentally, I happened to see the souvenir brochure that was released today at DRDO Bhavan in front of all the ministers and stuff. For all the admitted good work it's done in the last couple of years, I don't know why DRDO continues to print barefaced lies in its brochures thinking that they'll go unnoticed. They just slip these things into documents, into literature, into brochures, even Parliament answers, and think that nobody's going to notice. For example, under the header "Systems that have been productionised", they had the gall to list Nag, Tejas and the AAD along with others that actually were productionised. In this drive toward transparency, I'm hoping this was a genuine error, though it was most likely a typical effort to please everyone in the organisation in the darn brochure. Juvenile, and more importantly, dishonest. Anyway, here's what the government had to say about today:

The year 2008 marks the 50th year of the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) service to the nation. Since its inception in 1958, DRDO has grown multi-dimensionally from a humble beginning and is today a major technology generator for the nation effectively meeting the requirement of developing and fielding defence systems to the Services and paramilitary forces. DRDO, today has a proven competence to produce a wide range of highly strategic defence equipment and technologies for our armed forces.

DRDO has not only attained self-reliance in strategic defence weapons and delivery systems which no country is willing to part with, but has also provide the country with an array of tactical battlefield systems like Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas), Main Battle Tank (Arjun), family of missile such as Agni, Prithvi, Akash, Nag and BrahMos with capability of delivery of different payloads to varying ranges. The recent successful launch of Agni III and Interceptor missile technologies developed by DRDO has taken India to an elite club of developed nations having similar capability. [Notice the absolute nonsense in this paragraph -- exactly what I mean]

DRDO's other success story has been the development of a series of radars, electronic warfare systems, secured communication, sonars, torpedoes and armaments. Most of them have been inducted into the Armed Forces. Specialized materials relevant to defence applications have also been indigenously developed including composites, armor for battle tanks, titanium sponge and special steel for naval weapon platforms. The life support technologies developed by DRDO have helped to improve the operational efficiency of our troops in extremes of environmental and operational conditions.

In the current global political scenario, Nuclear Biological Chemical defence also has assumed a great significance. DRDO has achieved a significant level of self-reliance in this area. The defence spin-offs in civil sector and the DRDO societal missions have immensely benefited the society at large. After 50 years of commitment towards self-reliance in defence, the DRDO community feels that it should consolidate all that have been achieved and also present how it will organize itself for the coming decades by organizing a Year-long Golden Jubilee Programme.

This endeavor will provide a unique opportunity to showcase its achievements and core competencies. It will create greater awareness of DRDOs tangible and intangible contributions to nation building among the scientific and technological organizations, academia, industry, foreign partners, as well as educate the general public and media and attract talent into DRDO fraternity. This will involve a series of events including conferences, workshops, exhibitions, short films / documentaries, compendiums etc. This Year long Programme will help break all existing barriers and generate goodwill and better understanding with partners. The all important rapport with the armed forces has to increase manifold as also the collaboration among the DRDO labs and production centers.

The Year 2008 will herald a new chapter in the history of DRDO to reflect its rich heritage and look back with pride on the past achievements. It is also time to plan for challenges ahead and highlight future aspirations. A new spirit and a sense of optimism is evident in the DRDO family today. DRDO will put in whole-hearted efforts to match the new global ecosystem. The organization pledges to transform into a highly cohesive, responsive and adaptive business house. In this era, DRDO is on its way towards expanding avenues in International activities including joint ventures and exports.

09 Jan 2008 will mark the launch of the DRDO Golden Jubilee Year-2008. The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony will flag-off the chain of events. The main event will be organized in the DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi. The DRDO-Golden Jubilee Brochure-2008 will also be released on this occasion. The brochure will especially highlight the achievements of DRDO d uring 2007 and will dwell on the major systems delivered, systems that are in pipeline and some vital future programs. It will also bring out the intangible outputs of DRDO such as its efforts in fostering fundamental research, manpower training and development, enhancing its interaction with private industry and developing a special relationship with the user services.

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