The DRDO, IIT Delhi and industry have signed ten tripartite agreements for development and manufacturing among others of light weight bullet proof jacket ABHED, and indigenous polymeric ballistic material.
This happened at an event DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) organised at IIT Delhi on Thursday.
Transfer of Technology (TOT) of light weight bullet resistant jacket (ABHED- Advanced Ballistic High Energy Defeat) was handed over to defence PSU MIDHANI (Mishra Dhatu Nigam), and private firms, SMPP Pvt Ltd, AR Polymers and MKU, said the Ministry of Defence.
Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for development of indigenous ballistic material was signed with Reliance Industries Ltd. Additional MoA for limited series production of extreme cold weather clothing was inked with Aeronav Industrial Safety Appliance, Arnaf Industries Ltd, and Arrow Garments, the Ministry stated.
For limited series production of Extreme Heat Protective Clothing, MOA was sined with Arrow Garments, Aeronav Industrial Safety Appliance, and Katalyst TECHTEX Ltd, it elaborated.
The tripartite agreements were signed in the presence of Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat; Director, IIT Delhi Prof Rangan Banerjee and industry representatives.
To integrate academia and industry into defence R&D, DRDO promulgated the Long Term Directed Research Policy of Ministry of Defence. Under this policy, DIA-CoEs pursue focused directed research for developing futuristic defence technologies.
Aligned with the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, these centres leverage the expertise of faculty and researchers of the institute in collaboration with DRDO laboratories and Indian industries to meet national security needs.
DIA-CoEs are being facilitated by the Directorate of Futuristic Technology Management (DFTM) under the Technology Management cluster of DRDO.
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Joint Advanced Technology Centre of DRDO, established in 2017 at IIT Delhi, was converted to DIA-CoE, envisaging association of Indian industry for translation of knowledge to high technology readiness.
Over the past seven years, around 50 research projects have been initiated under five technology verticals, with a total funding of ₹375 crore from DRDO.
The MoD said the focus has been on soldier-centric innovations, including high-performance lightweight body armour, advanced aerostat materials, smart soldier jackets, terahertz technology for spectroscopy, firefighter heat protection gear, and extreme cold-weather jackets.