| Army tanks will no longer have sultry interiors, thanks to a miniature solid state cooling unit, designed by state-owned Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants Ltd (Mecon).
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| "We have designed, developed and demonstrated a miniaturised solid state cooling unit that was fitted to the army's main battle tank, Arjun, during trials at the Mahajan field firing range on the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan," team leader in Mecon's R&D division, Suchitangshu Chatterjee, said.
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| Army representatives who were present at the trials were satisfied about the cooling efficiency of the unit, he claimed.
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| "Lt Himanshu Issar of the 90 Armed regiment volunteered to be the subject during trials," Chatterjee said.
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| "When the defence research and development organisation (DRDO) came to know that Mecon has the capability of meeting their requirement, it approached us," he said.
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| The solid state cooling unit for the tank crew, which took seven years to develop, has gone through two phases with the first being completed in 2000 and the second in 2005 June-July, he said.
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| The chief controller for research and development at Sena Bhavan, W Selvamurthy, sent a letter of appreciation, Chatterjee added.
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| "The devices are ready for market, and we are awaiting a letter of concurrence from the DRDO," Chatterjee, also assistant general manager (R&D) in Mecon, said.
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| He, however, said the cost had not yet been assessed.
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| Mecon had developed battery-operated heated gloves and socks for defence personnel to save them from frostbite, Chatterjee said.
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| He said gloves and socks had undergone tests in cold chamber and the prototype had been delivered and accepted by DRDO laboratory and the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) in Delhi.
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| "Cold injuries assume great importance for armed forces deployed at Siachen glacier where temperatures dip to minus 40 degree celsius," he said.
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| In his letter to Chatterjee, Selvamurthy said he would request the director of DIPAS, "to take this important task further for introduction into the services".
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| Both the designs were a joint venture, with the DRDO being the sponsors, he said.
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| The project was carried out in collaboration with units of the DRDO in Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.
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| The Mecon was working on some more defence-related projects, Chatterjee said. |
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