Defence Brass Places Orders For N-Suits

THE DEFENCE Ministry has recently placed orders for thousands of nuclear, biological and chemical suits (NBCS) with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).

The move is significant in the light of reports that Pakistan has stationed nuclear-tipped missiles in Sargodha and other parts of the country. The NBCS will be supplied to soldiers on the frontline.

The OFB has also been asked to speed up manufacture of high-altitude personal equipment like snow boots and jackets as well as sophisticated gas masks. "We have already received all these orders from the Ministry of Defence and shall commence production immediately," OFB chairman D Rajagopal told The Hindustan Times. The NBCS will be manufactured at ordnance factories at Kanpur and at Avadi in Tamil Nadu.

 

The Defence Ministry move comes in the wake of satellite photographs released last week showing deployment of these missiles by Pakistan within range of targets in India. Chinese-made M-11 missiles as well as Pakistan's indigenous Ghauri missiles have been armed with nuclear warheads and transported to the border, the report said.

Mr Rajagopal said that two ordnance factories at Dehradun would start manufacturing night vision and infrared equipment for tanks and the indigenous INSAS rifles with technical expertise from the Defence Rese-arch and Development Organisation (DRDO). "Field trials of high-altitude tents and protective gear like snow boots, jackets and hoods manufactured by us are now on. Kargil necessitated heavy import of these equipment. We shall soon start work on design and manufacture of snow mobiles," the OFB chief said.

Outlining the OFB's priorities for the next five years, Mr Rajagopal said that maximum stress would be accorded to manufacture of equipment for artillery, infantry and the Air Force. "We are working on heavy artillery ammunition with a range of over 40 km and full-bore guidance and rocket assistance ammunition," he said.

"For the infantry, we will develop automatic grenade system, better rocket launchers and extra-lethal kinetic energy ammunition with armour-piercing capabilities and special ammunition for anti-aircraft guns with extra lethality," he added. Air bombs for added impact are also being developed by the IFB.

The OFB is also evolving an aggressive marketing strategy for overseas markets. "We exported spare parts and ammunition for guns and anti-aircraft guns worth about Rs 20 crore to South East Asian countries last year. We will now explore the market in African countries for export of small arms, ammunition and mortars," Mr Rajagopal said.

The OFB plans an annual export turnover of Rs 100 crore in five years' time."Apart from our supplies to the armed forces, we hope to achieve a turnover of Rs 1000 crore over the next five years. We expect to get Rs 500 crore from supplying equipment, arms and ammunition to para-military and police forces, Rs 400 crore from civilian trade and Rs 100 crore from exports," the OFB chairman, who is also the director general of ordnance factories, said.

The OFB's present volume of business with the para-military and police forces stands at Rs 250 crore. It also manufactures civilian sporting equipment and supplies brake shoes and castings to the Indian Railways totalling Rs 230 crore. It has just received an order for 20 mine-proof vehicles from the Andhra Government. It is working on developing special bullet-proof vehicles.

Mr Rajagopal said that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is contemplating a consortium of all defence public sector undertakings to streamline their product lines, facilitate sophisticated and high-end research and manufacture and cross-support each others' activities.