DRDO Research Center A Key Missile Player

The Research Center Imarat (RCI), a sensitive and less-discussed wing of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), is playing a key role in India’s next-generation missile programs.
RCI is currently involved in air defense systems (ADS) and the Agni-V long-range strategic missile. “The lab has successfully participated in successful demonstration of ADS with over five launches so far,” an RCI official says. “The Agni-V, capable of traveling a maximum range of 6,000 kilometers [3,700 mi.], is scheduled for a maiden launch in March 2011. This would further put India among a select group of nations with such advanced deterrent systems.”
The Exposition Hall at RCI provides a peek into various missile systems and other platforms that are currently being developed by the lab. DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat has laid down a mandate for RCI to become a leader in missile technologies.
RCI has been designing and developing state-of-the-art missile technologies for more than two decades. It is DRDO’s largest unit responsible for developing missile systems and avionics like inertial navigation systems (INS), control systems, real-time embedded computers, imaging infrared seekers, radio frequency seekers and power supply systems.
Telemetry and teleoperation systems also are developed by RCI to evaluate missile performance during the development phase. “Our focus has been developing world-class, state-of-the-art missile technologies that will produce precise and reliable, indigenous weapon systems to back the needs of the armed forces,” RCI Director S.K. Ray says. “We want to be a leader in development of guided missile systems by delivering frontier technologies, multi-disciplinary competence and avant-garde infrastructure leading to self-reliance,”
Located close to the new Hyderabad airport, RCI is spread across 2,100 acres. The lab has successfully produced missile technologies that were denied to India under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) by Western countries, including fiber-optic gyros, ring laser gyros, electromechanical actuators, pressure sensors, rate gyros, lithium and thin film batteries, imaging infrared domes and IIR/RF seekers.
As the crucial unit of India’s Missile Complex, RCI has been pivotal in launching the Prithvi surface-to-surface missile, the Dhanush ship-launched missile, the Agni long-range missile, the Akash medium-range surface-to-air missile, the Nag anti-tank missile, the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, the Astra air-to-air missile and the submarine-launched K-15 missile. The lab works closely with the Defense Research and Development Laboratory and the Advanced Systems Laboratory, which are both based in Hyderabad.(Avaition Week)