Expert committee to review charter of DRDO labs

As lots of new technologies have come into existence over the decades, we are working on the charter of duties of labs so that they are up to date and non-overlapping, says a Defence official

August 26, 2020 09:08 pm | Updated 09:08 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

G. Satheesh Reddy.

G. Satheesh Reddy.

With a focus on indigenous development of futuristic defence technologies, a five member expert committee has been constituted to review the charter of duties for all laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The committee was constituted by Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D), who is also the Chairman, DRDO.

“As lots of new technologies have come into existence over the decades, we are working on the charter of duties of labs so that they are up to date and non-overlapping,” a Defence official said on condition of anonymity. The five member committee is headed by Professor V. Ramagopal Rao, Director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.

According to a letter dated August 24, the terms of reference are: to study and review the charter of duties of all the labs of the DRDO, to redefine the charter of duties of the labs on the current and futuristic defence and battlefield scenario, and to minimise the overlap of technologies amongst the labs. The committee has to submit its report within 45 days and Chairman of the committee may co-opt subject specialists as invitees to specific meetings, the letter states.

The other members in the committee include include S. Somnath, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre; Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, Deputy Chief of Air Staff; Dr. Samir V. Kamat, Director General-Naval Systems and Materials (NS&M); and Benjamin Lionel, Director, Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE).

The last major review of DRDO was the P. Rama Rao committee of 2008, which had suggested that the DRDO be decentralised into seven technology clusters and focus be only on core technologies of strategic importance.

The DRDO has a network of 52 laboratories working on a range of disciplines from aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles, missiles, naval systems, life sciences and agriculture, among others.

Also read: DRDO woos private sector for more involvement

Dr. Reddy has just been given a two-year extension by the government as the Chairman DRDO, and Secretary DDR&D, beyond his earlier two-year tenure of August 26, 2020.

Earlier this week, as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the government, the DRDO announced a list of 108 military sub-systems and components for development by the Indian industry only and the DRDO would provide support to industries for design, development and testing of these systems on a requirement basis.

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