Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said there is lot of knowledge and infrastructure base with the DRDO and it needs to be tapped by the medium and small-scale firms and private industries, which in turn will lead towards the establishment of a self-reliant defence industrial complex.
The Minister visited the DRDO’s Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex on Monday.
He went round the integration centre at the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and reviewed ongoing missile technologies and related programmes.
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Dr S. Christopher, Secretary, DD&D and Chairman DRDO along with Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, Special Advisor and Director-General, Missiles and Strategic Systems, briefed him on various technological developments.
Industries have been significantly contributing in the realisation of various defence products with the know-how provided by the DRDO and some even graduated as lead integrators, he pointed out. The partnership between DRDO and industries is transforming the country into a global defence manufacturing hub and the synergy has provided thrust for exporting defence products.
“We are taking initiatives in this direction and I am sure that our state-of-the-art missiles and weapon systems will garner the much needed interest in the global markets and generate foreign exchange,” Mr. Parrikar said.
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He congratulated DRDO scientists for recent successful missions like the ‘Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon, Long Range Ballistic Missiles Agni V& Agni IV, Guided Pinaka and Astra’.
The Missile Complex came in for praise for its effort in indigenising technology products and strengthening the defence industrial base in the country as also DRDO’s initiative to sign MoUs with universities in diversified research areas, a press release informed on Monday.