Mighty India Power

Pinaka, the country’s indigenously developed multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) weapon system, was successfully test fired from a defence base at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from in Balasore, today.  The trial was conducted by the personnel of Armament research and Development Establishment (ARDE) at the Proof and Experimental Establishment (PXE) firing point-2 at Chandipur as part of a routine test exercise, defence sources said. Pinaka weapon system. Image courtesy PIB Pinaka, which underwent several tough tests since 1995, has already been inducted into the armed forces. “These are routine trials and some more rockets are likely to be tested tomorrow,” they said. “Four rounds of rocket test were successfully carried out today,” said a defence official adding the MBRL, capable of acting as a force-multiplier, can gradually replace the current artillery system.  The sophisticated Pinaka is an weapon system aimed at supplementing the existing artillery gu...

Some facts on Mars mission Spacecraft facts: Its main engine generates 440 Newtons of thrust. Launch mass: 1350 kg. It bears a single solar panel, 1.4 by 1.8 meters, producing 750W at Mars. [Note: This doesn't jibe with the single image that I have managed to find of the orbiter, posted below; that one appears to have a three-section panel, with each section possibly 1.4 by 1.8 meters. I can't explain the discrepancy.] For attitude control it has four reaction wheels, eight 22-Newton thrusters. Those are mostly pretty similar to Chandrayaan-1, except for the size of the solar panel. Chandrayaan-1 had a single 2.15-by-1.8-meter panel that generated 750W at the Moon. My guess is that the diagram below is correct and that the Mars spacecraft has a single solar array consisting of three panels 1.4 by 1.8 meters each, which would, together, manage to produce similar power at Mars that the single, larger panel did at the Moon.  Five instruments have been selected, includi...

India would flight test sub-sonic, medium range cruise missile Nirbhay, next month, a key defence official said today. Nirbhay is being developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a Defence Research and Development Organisation lab based here, V K Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, told a press conference here. "This is in the final stage of integration and we expect to launch it next month", Saraswat, also Secretary in the Department of Defence (R&D) and DRDO Director General, said. He said Nirbhay has good loitering capability, good control and guidance, high degree of accuracy in terms of impact and very good stealth features. ADE Director P S Krishnan said Nirbhay would be launched from Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa. Nirbhay will be a all-weather low-cost medium-range cruise missile with stealth and high accuracy. The missile will have a range of 750km, which will be increased later. It will weighin...

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has submitted a plan for 58 space missions to be undertaken as a part of 12th Five Year Plan, 2012-17. A plan outlay of Rs 39,750 crore in 12th Five Year Plan period has been provisionally earmarked under the Plan budget for space programme. During the current year 2012-13, a sum of Rs 5,615 crore has been allocated and the amount spent up to end October, 2012 is Rs 1,871.53 crore. The missions planned for 12th Five Year plan includes 33 satellite missions and 25 launch vehicles missions. The mission includes: SARAL, CARTOSAT-2C, CARTOSAT-2D, RESOURCESAT-2A, OCEANSAT-3, CARTOSAT-3, GISAT, GSAT-9, GSAT-10, GSAT-15, GSAT-16, GSAT-17, GSAT-18, GSAT-14, GSAT-11S, GSAT-6, GSAT-6A, GSAT-7, GSAT-Ka, GSAT-11, GSAT-19E, IRNSS-1, INSAT-3D, IRNSS-2, IRNSS-3, IRNSS-4, IRNSS-5, IRNSS-6, IRNSS-7, ASTROSAT, MARS ORBITER, CHANDRAYAAN-2, ADITYA, PSLV-C20, PSLV-C21, PSLV-C22, PSLV C23, PSLV C24, PSLV C25, PSLV C26, PSLV C27, PSLV C28, PSLV C29, PSL...

India today successfully tested the underwater BO5 ballistic missile. With this the country is a step closer to having a nuclear triad with land version as well as air based versions tested successfully. The missile was launched from an approximate depth of about 50 metres, simulating exactly the conditions as would prevail during an operational launch from India's indigenously made nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant. After emerging from the water, the missile followed a copy book track of its trajectory and hit its target about six minutes after launch in a very precise manner. The trajectory was tracked using several cameras and radars specially deputed for this launch. This is the fourteenth consecutively successful launch of this potent weapons system which has till now always been done in complete secrecy. This was the last developmental launch and now the weapons system is ready to be integrated with the Indian submarines, says AK Chakrabarty, the man who desig...

India is developing a Rs 6,000 crore Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) programme, scientific adviser to the defence minister, Dr V.K. Saraswat, informed the media. “The AWACS will be able to penetrate into enemy territory for longer distances, not physically, but by way of radars and electronic warfare systems. The Government of India has given its clearance for the programme and the DRDO has begun to work on it,” said Dr Saraswat, who is also the director-general of DRDO. Asked what benefits AWACS offer as compared to the AEW&C system that India currently uses, Dr Saraswat said that a combination of both systems is used all over the world. However, AWACS gives better coverage -- 360 degrees as compared to 270 degrees by AEW&C. The AWACS can fly at higher altitudes, for longer distances and for longer durations, he said. Two AEW&C aircraft will be ready this year and all the three aircraft that the Indian Air Force has ordered will be delivered by ...

By all means, 2012 can be considered a watershed year for the Indian space programme. The programme had begun modestly in November 1963 with the launch of a 9-kg sounding rocket from a modest facility in the fishing hamlet of Thumba on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. 2012 saw the 100th space mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). On September 9, 2012, the four stage workhorse PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) orbited the 720-kg French remote sensing satellite  Spot-6  along with the 15-kg Japanese  Proiteres  probe as a piggy back payload on commercial terms, and in the process helped ISRO complete the saga of a “space century”. The significance of the mission lay in the fact that the PSLV, considered a highly reliable space vehicle, launched the heaviest ever satellite of an international customer on commercial terms. The PSLV has so far launched 29 satellites for international customers on commercial terms. Its versatility lies in t...

In an exclusive interview to TOI, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan speaks about the increasing number of commercial launches by the space agency, entrusting private players with the task of building rockets and satellites and on the formation of a consortium to build PSLV for 21 consecutive launches by 2017. How does increasing the number of commercial launches help the space agency in its quest for space success? While the primary mandate for our launch vehicle development programme is to meet the national needs of orbiting satellites for remote sensing, communications, navigation and space science, the commercial launch opportunities enabled us to benchmark our Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) series in the global context. In the next mission of PSLV, we are set to launch six more foreign satellites from Austria, Canada, Denmark and the UK. Discussions are on for launching a few more foreign satellites during 2013-15. This is a tacit recognition by international community of...

DRDO is in talks with major private and public sector firms like Tata, Mahindra, L&T and BEL for developing an indigenous advanced artillery howitzer for the Army. The premier defence research agency recently held an interaction with the stakeholders to explore the feasibility of involving Indian industries in the development of Advance Towed Artillery Guns System (ATAGS), DRDO officials said.

During NAVCOM-2012, a two-day international conference on Navigation and Communication, DRDO’s Chief V.K. Saraswat who happens to be the scientific advisor to India’s Defence Minister, shared that some passionate Indian software engineers from DRDO and other Indian prime institutes are busy building India’s very own operating system (OS). With a dream of having a robust cyber security system in place, the Indian OS will be developed within the next three years, says Mr. Saraswat in a moment of great pride and fervor. And rightfully so, because there is no foreign involvement in the project and already 150 engineers from across the country are into this major program for last one and a half year. This program is a major move in the direction of cyber security, much needed in the country right now. DRDO is also working on putting the basic elements of the network likes switches and all servers together in India, instead of being imported. To put a check on the m...

India’s DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) successfully test-fired the K-15 underwater missile on Wednesday, off the Visakhapatnam coast. This underwater launch system makes India the fifth country on the planet to have technology after U.S., Russia, France and China. K-15 leaped 20km into the air from it’s base a few meters under the sea and covered 650 km before splashing into the bay of Bengal. This was the 11th trial flight of the missile. K-15 Missile DRDO Program Director, A.K. Chakrabarti says the system is ‘fantastic’ given its power and accuracy. The missile will now undergo one more trial and afterwards, it will be integrated with India’s nuclear submarine – Arihant. The K-15 is a two stage missile, weighs about 6 tonnes and 10 meters in length. DRDO is planning to equip Arihant with 12 such missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warhead. DRDO’s engineers are already in the process of building the K-4 missile, which is even mo...