Giving impetus to collaborations industry, research organisations and academic institutions, Reddy said the DRDO has more than 1,500 patents that is made available to students

BANGALORE: Highlighting the contribution by private industries to Akash Missile, chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation Satheesh Reddy said, the industries contribute 87 per cent value to each Akash missile. The total orders received by the missiles amounts to Rs 29,000 crore. He was addressing a batch of students at a convocation ceremony in the city recently. Reddy said that at present, the DRDO has 1,800 industry partners, a long way from the 1980’s when the defence research organisation had just 20-30 industries working with it.

“We are taking people from the private industries as our partners today in the development of even critical systems like missiles,” he said, adding that the defence organisation has started transferring technology to industries at zero fee. 

Giving impetus to collaborations industry, research organisations and academic institutions, Reddy said the DRDO has more than 1,500 patents that is made available to students. One can select what is suitable for them, and the organisation will render its support and handhold the student.

For India to be a technology supplier, he believed it was imperative to develop a first-of-its-kind system, like the BRAMHOS missile developed under the guidance of APJ Abdul Kalam. “We need to supply to the world and then the country will become prosperous,” he said.

DRDO’s Mission 

“When you are weak, people mock you, and when you are strong, the same people admire you,” Reddy said, explaining the DRDO’s mission that destroyed a satellite in the Low Earth Orbit on March 27. Explaining the feat, he said, “With a satellite orbiting at a velocity of 7.8 km per second, a missile travelling at 3.2 km per second, and the total relative velocity of 11 kmps, a 1.2 mtr by 1.3 mtr object was tracked, and was hit at an altitude of 300 km. The hit was just 6 cm away from the geometric centre of the object, post which, India was seen in a different light by other countries.”