Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment in Avadi on Sunday, where she was given a presentation on the ongoing national programmes in combat vehicles and technologies.
The Defence Minister, during her maiden visit to the facility, was also shown around various technology centres. S. Christopher, Chairman, DRDO & Secretary, Department of Defence, R&D, and P. Sivakumar, Director, CVRDE, gave a presentation about the unit, a press release said.
“The Defence Minister evinced keen interest in the advanced systems like Arjun MBT Mk-II, Arjun Armoured Recovery and Repair Vehicle (ARRV), Arjun Catapult, Unmanned Ground Vehicles, Sub-systems of Light Combat Aircraft –Tejas, Landing Gear, 180 hp engine for Rustom-II, 1000 hp Engine for T-72, 400 hp for BMP-II, besides Armoured Ambulance Tracked, Carrier Command Post Tracked, Bridge Laying Tank (BLT-72),” the release said.
During the visit, the first prototype of Arjun Armoured Recovery and Repair Vehicle (ARRV), was handed over by Deepak Kumar Hota, CMD, BEML to Mr. Sivakumar.
Website launched
Ms. Sitharaman also launched a website, ‘DRDO Robotics & Unmanned Systems Exposition’ (https://rac.gov.in/druse) for inviting the young & talented minds of engineering community from all parts of the country to take part in Defence Challenging applications.
She also released two books titled ‘Arjun MBT- an Indian Success Story’ and ‘Achievements of CVRDE’. The Minister expressed confidence that the DRDO will empower the nation with the ‘Make in India’ mission, the release said.