A series of 3 articles on DRDO at rediff.com
The other day I read this wonderful article that gave a non biased view about the work done over the years by India's premier research organization DRDO. It was especially great to note that the author was a US based defence analyst, since most of the scathing comments come in from our own national writers. DRDO has performed well over the many years and the many testaments to its successes are strategic incorporations in the armed forces. Just to highlight some of the points in this series of articles.
1. DRDO operates on a budget of $800 million while China's research wing has a budget of $10 billion.
2. It helped develop the Brahmos missile.
3. Helped develop the LCA and indgenize many components after the 1998 US led sanctions after Pokran.
4. Developed the Arjun Tank which has been in the eye of the storm for most analysts as a failure but its development has lead to many successful spin offs.
5. Development of many indegenous radars, missile launch technology (esp. solid propellant systems), standard arms used within the forces, agni, prithvi and much more.
These are just some of the points. I have always admired DRDO as an organization but have always held my suspicions probably due to the biased reporting making the rounds in Indian newspapers. Looks like we need foreigners to see how great India truely is, in this case our research organizations.
