BATTLE READY: DRDO's ARJUN Mk-II Main Battle Tank

Envisioning Prime Minister's vision, DRDO has set its sight on indigenous production of several weapon systems accepted by the services.

The projects completed by DRDO during the last three years, which find merit for indigenous production through various partner agencies include: 46 m Inflatable Radome; Medium Size Integrated Aerostat Surveillance System Nakshatra; 16 Ton Heavy Drop System; Enhanced Range Rocket Pinaka Mk-II; Submunition Warheads for Pinaka; 250 kg Pre-fragmented Bomb; Air Bursting Grenades for individual weapons; Penetration-cum-Blast (PCB) and Thermobaric (TB) Ammunition for 120 mm MBT Arjun Gun; Multi Calibre Individual Weapon System (MCIWS); Minefield Marking Equipment Mk-II; CBRNe Remotely Operated Platforms (CBRNeP), Barmine Layer; Mountain Foot Bridge; Water Mist System for Fire Protection in naval ships; Electro-optical Fire Control System for naval ships; Commander’s Nonpanoramic TI Sight for Armoued Fighting Vehicles T-90, T-72 and BMP-II; Medium Power Radar for IAF; Anti-Torpedo Decoy System Maareech; High Speed Heavy-weight Ship Launched Torpedo Varunastra; Multi-influence Ground Mine (MIGM), etc.


The information was given by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply to Dr Vinay P Sahasrabuddhe in the upper house of the Parliament on 6 August 2018. She also informed the house that the total Budget of Department of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D) for the Financial Year 2018-19 is Rs 17861.19 crore with manpower of approximately 24224 including 7354 scientists. A total of 13 research projects in Technology Development (TD) and Science & Technology (S&T) category have been taken up by the DRDO in the year 2018-19 in the broad areas of hybrid power system, advanced materials, CBW Defence technologies, laser diode technology, technologies for insensitive munitions etc., and since these are in design phase, outcome of research projects will be seen in the coming years.

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