Makeover mission

Having restructured and modernised ordnance factories, the government is now taking a close look at the DRDO's utility and track record

- SANJIB KR BARUAH

What is the link between New Delhi and Arlington county in the US? There are two, in fact.

One, they are polar opposites in terms of longitudinal position. New Delhi is located at 77 degrees East, while Arlington county is at 77 degrees West. Two, in 1958, Delhi and Arlington county became home to two organisations with similar mandates—the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in India, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the US. Later, ARPA became DARPA after ‘defence’ was prefixed to its name.

DARPA and the DRDO functioned under differing conditions. By 1958, the Soviets had surprised the Americans by launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and the world’s first and second satellites (Sputnik 1 and 2). The US was compelled to accelerate military research and development. The new agency, said US president Dwight Eisenhower, would “prevent technological surprise” and “guarantee that never again would the US military be caught with its technological trousers down”.

And DARPA delivered. It developed many groundbreaking systems, including stealth technology for aircraft and military platforms, and precision weapons of game-changing proportions. It also gave the civilian world the internet, automated voice recognition and language translation, and the global positioning system.

The DRDO’s founding objectives were humbler. In 1958, India was a young nation that needed to be self-reliant in critical defence technologies and systems. The DRDO was seen as the answer.