The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) and Ordnance Factory Medak (OFMK), have developed soft recovery system for supersonic projectile, an IIT-K press release stated.
OFMK is a unit of Armored Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL).
The soft recovery system (SRS) bears the potential to arrest the motion of a 30 mm supersonic projectile moving at a speed of roughly Mach 3 - three times the speed of sound, within a 50-meter distance.
SRS technology is used for the recovery of a projectile after initial impact with minimum damage. This is to ensure the development of smart and intelligent warheads with maximum effectiveness and minimum collateral damage. Acquisition of SRS technology is a pre-requisite for the development of smart and guided munitions, officials said.
This SRS technology has been developed under the collaborative efforts and leadership of prof. Nachiketa Tiwari of IIT-K, Alok Prasad, general manager, OFMK, the release stated.
“Heartiest congratulations to the whole team for successfully developing the SRS system for projectiles in conjunction with OFMK. It is a milestone in the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the Indian government,” said Lt. Gen. A. Mukherjee (retd).
“My compliments to professor Nachiketa Tiwari of IIT-K and Alok Prasad, GM, Ordnance Factory, Medak for jointly developing the SRS to strengthen the growing need for smart munitions to ultimately manufacture smart bombs which will greatly increase the accuracy of the artillery shell,” Lt. Gen. Sanjay Kulkarni (retd) said.
{{/usCountry}}“My compliments to professor Nachiketa Tiwari of IIT-K and Alok Prasad, GM, Ordnance Factory, Medak for jointly developing the SRS to strengthen the growing need for smart munitions to ultimately manufacture smart bombs which will greatly increase the accuracy of the artillery shell,” Lt. Gen. Sanjay Kulkarni (retd) said.
{{/usCountry}}“Artillery gun fire shells have huge dispersion and are known as area weapons. Now with increased kill probability due to SRS technology, the artillery will be able to fire killer projectiles which will be more lethal and accurate, thereby cutting on the cost to neutralise targets. I sincerely believe this will strengthen our resolve to become self-reliant in critical technology and also enhance our export potential,” he added.
“Development of futuristic ammunition requires advanced validation techniques and SRS is the most important of them all. It is a unique capability which should be further expanded to higher calibre ammunition. Such testing facilities will help design agencies and defense startup companies in the field of smart munitions development,” said Bharat Singh, OFMK general manager (retd).
Prof Abhay Karandikar, IIT-K director, said, “IIT-K favours multi-stakeholder collaboration for holistic development in research and innovation sector. This is another prime step in this regard and I am glad that IIT-K has contributed to the key development in defense area by developing SRS. It would not only assist in the effective recovery of supersonic projectiles, but also would contribute towards the larger goal of attaining India’s self-reliance in developing advanced defense systems.”
Only few countries have SRS at the moment AND with this development, India has joined select countries who have this. IIT Kanpur team was involved in concept development, design and virtual validation of the SRS, officials said. They also undertook the testing of sub-assemblies; while AVNL’s OFMK was instrumental in fabricating and assembling roughly 50-meter-long assembly to exacting standards, officials said.
Last year, IIT-K and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Kolkata had signed a memorandum of understanding to offer customised master of design (M. Des.) program for officers sponsored by OFB, to help them design sophisticated weapons and weapon-systems.