DRDO to display two tableaux at Republic Day parade: Defence Ministry

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will display two tableaux at the forthcoming Republic Day Parade on January 26, the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.

"The tableaux are 'Suite of Indigenously Developed Sensors, Weapons and Electronic Warfare Systems for LCA Tejas' and 'Air Independent Propulsion System (AIP)' developed for the submarines of the Indian Navy," a ministry statement said.

The first tableau will display an indigenously-developed Advanced Electronically Scanned Array Radar called 'Uttam', five different aerially launched weapons and an Electronic Warfare (EW) jammer to further enhance the capabilities of fourth-generation Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas.

Developed by a Bangalore-based electronics laboratory, the 'Uttam' radar is a highly compact and modular state-of-the-art sensor to provide situational awareness to the pilot.

The five aerially launched weapons include air-to-air missile 'Astra' which is an all-weather, active radar homing missile with beyond visual range striking capabilities; 'Rudram', a new generation anti-radiation missile with a capability to destroy adversary's radar and communication systems; 'Smart Anti Airfield Weapon', meant to destroy the ground targets and airfields; a long range guided glide bomb 'Gaurav' and 'Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation', an advanced precision strike weapon meant for ground targets.

These weapons are developed using complex technologies by Hyderabad-based DRDO laboratories.

The second tableau will showcase an indigenously-developed AIP System for propelling the Indian Naval submarines underwater. The AIP System is powered by indigenously-developed fuel cells with a novel onboard hydrogen generator. It is one of the most advanced AIP Systems in the world where Fuel Cell Technology is used to generate onboard power.

The AIP allows a submarine to be submerged for longer periods compared to conventional diesel-electric submarines and makes the sub-surface platform more efficient by making it quieter than even a nuclear submarine.

--IANS

rdk/arm