In the year 1950 India declared itself as a sovereign, democratic and republican state and the newly formed administration and armed forces had to face some really tough challenges ahead in order to secure the nation's borders and maintain the safety of their citizens, to counter the enemies which tried to trespass the Indian borders or the wrongdoers who wanted to initiate proxy wars against India. Therefore, in 1958, the Indian administration decided to form a new defense research and development wing which was known by the name DRDO.
The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) was formed in 1958 from the amalgamation of the then already functioning Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defense Science Organisation (DSO). DRDO was then a small organisation with 10 establishments or laboratories. Over the years, it has grown multi-directionally in terms of the variety of subject disciplines, number of laboratories, achievements and stature. A separate Department of Defence Research and Development was formed in 1980 which later on administered DRDO and its 50 laboratories/establishments. Most of the time the Defence Research Development Organisation was treated as if it was a vendor and the Army Headquarters or the Air Headquarters were the customers. Because the Army and the Air Force themselves did not have any design or construction responsibility, they tended to treat the designer of Indian industry at par with their corresponding designer in the world market. If they could get a MiG-21 from the world market, they wanted a MiG-21 from DRDO.
DRDO started its first major project in surface-to-air missiles (SAM) known as Project Indigo in the 1960s. Indigo was discontinued in later years without achieving full success. Project Indigo led to Project Devil, along with Project Valiant, to develop short-range SAM and ICBM in the 1970s. Project Devil itself led to the later development of the Prithvi missile under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) in the 1980s. IGMDP was an Indian Ministry of Defense programme between the early 1980s and 2007 for the development of a comprehensive range of missiles, including the Agni missile, Prithvi ballistic missile, Akash missile, Trishul missile and Nag Missile.
From missiles to drones,tanks to bullet proof jackets,radars to emergency medical kits and UV disinfection towers the DRDO has been playing a very important role in manufacturing the needs of the nation during the time of war,drought, insurgency or even a pandemic.The team of dedicated scientists,researchers,technicians and engineers at the DRDO have always made sure that India keeps making scientific advancements and should be self-reliant.
~Mst. Viral Vatsal (Batch 2018- 2019)
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