Thursday, February 9, 2012

Indian missile, rocket development projects in jeopardy

New Delhi, October 29, 2011: With Ministry of Defence and Orissa government locking horns over extension of lease for area in and around Chandipur Interim Test Range (ITR) in the state to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Indian missile and rocket development programs are hanging fire. 
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has shot a letter to defence minister AK Antony last month refusing to extend the lease and asking for shifting of the test range, which has sent the security establishment in a tizzy.

According to sources, Orissa government had given the land in 45 km radius around Chandipur to the premier military research organization DRDO for carrying out rocket, guns and missile tests on a three year lease subject to renewal. For this two notifications were issued one for allocating the area and other pertaining to the tests posing any danger to population in the area.

“One of these notifications has already expired and the other is due in a couple of months,” sources said. The land around the test range is important as the empty shells of rockets and guns generally fall in the area and are security hazard.

The Orissa government has been refusing to issue fresh notification in the case, contending that it intends to develop four ports between Paradip and Dhamra ports along the eastern coastline.

Since its establishment Chandipur is considered a precious test range of pre and post independence India. Even during the world wars, it played a significant role in demolishing the opposition Army and Navy.  A number of test vehicles of different class including multirole missile Trishul, multi-target capability missile Akash, the antitank Nag missile, the most precise surface-to-surface missile Prithvi and the Agni-I large scale technology demonstrator have been test fired from this range. ITR has also supported a number of other missions such as Multibarrel Rocket Launcher—Pinaka and Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA).

With state government refusing to budge, the defence ministry immediately dispatched Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri (SA to RM) and DRDO chief Dr. VK Saraswat to discuss the matter with Orissa Chief Minister.

“In a lengthy meeting SA to RM tried to impress upon the state government that it is not possible to shift the missile testing range from Chandipur. He also explained that the proposed four ports would lead to hectic commercial activity along the coastline making the testing difficult from Wheeler Island and Chandipur” sources added. Dr. Saraswat suggested that the ports should not come up and also a fresh notification should be issued soon. But so far, no word has come from the state government.

DRDO has established a full blown infrastructure at the range with a number of tracking instruments being deployed to cover the total flight path of the test vehicles

The ongoing tussle between the Orissa government and the MoD could prove costly for the rocket development programme as DRDO plans to develop a rocket with 70 km range. “DRDO would be requiring more area to test rockets with longer range. But this new development can put the project in limbo,” the sources added.

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