NEW DELHI: For the first time Advanced Combat Aircraft (AMCA) simulator was made available along with naval, land and air product simulators at the DefExpo 2022.
Highlighting its strong linkages with both industry and academia, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) displayed a wide range of 430 different equipment and technologies.
The major theme of DRDO Pavilion was based on 3D – DRDO, Designed and Developed. A holographic deck provided a 3D experience of over 30 defence products.
The visitors had an opportunity to see the advancements made by various laboratories of DRDO as well as its partnerships with the industry in various technologies. The products on display represented the level of indigenous efforts in not only advanced but futuristic defence products & technologies. These included a wide range of platforms that have been developed indigenously, prototyped, developed and produced for Land, Navy, Homeland Security, and Aerospace.
DRDO’s initiatives such as DIA- Centres of Excellence, Technology Development Fund, Dare to Dream and other such schemes which support Start-ups, MSMEs, academia and large industries were on display.
These initiatives have led to operational readiness of many Indian industries in areas of radars, systems, missiles, sonars, aircraft etc. In addition, there were static displays, seminars, live demonstrations, as well as immersive experience zones which were spread across three locations— Sabarmati River Front, the Mahatma Mandir Convention & Exhibition Centre, and Helipad Exhibition Centre.
Several technologies developed for land-based, naval and air-based systems were showcased through experience zones. There was a closed room immersive cinematic experience. There were 18 outdoor static displays at the Helipad Exhibition Centre. These included wheeled armoured platforms, different types of missiles and launchers among others.
At the Sabarmati River Front there was live demo as well as static display of equipment. The live demo covered inland, coastal and mounted Autonomous Survey Vehicles (ASVs) as well as Portable Diver Detection Sonar (PDDS) with Electro Optic System (EOS), Imaging Sonar ‘CHITR’. The static displays of DRDO equipment presented Portable Diver Detection Sonar, Wet End Unit, Counter Drone System for IN – D4 Radar, AIR Independent Propulsion System, Virtual Reality based countermeasure deployment simulator, TAL Torpedo, Soft Kill System and Hard Kill System, and Passive IRSS Device. These products and processes were the result of the DRDO’s efforts to combine research in science and theology with industry.
The DRDO has launched a number of initiatives to support academia. It has also helped start-ups, MSMEs and large industries to continuously upgrade technology readiness levels of present and futuristic technologies in the country. All these initiatives have led to operational readiness of many Indian industries, especially in the areas of systems, radars, sonars, missiles, aircrafts, etc.
some of which were displayed at the DRDO Pavilion, DefExpo22. Over the span of the exhibition, the participants and attendees witnessed a string of major events, seminars, and discussions.
One of the most significant of these events was Bandhan, designed to hand over licences of DRDO-developed technologies to the industries. The event saw DRDO handing over licensing agreements for transfer of technology (LAToT) for over a dozen new technologies developed by it to industries.
