Tarmak007 -- A bold blog on Indian defence: YES WE CAN: Saraswat dedicates Agni-IV success to youngsters in DRDO
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is on Cloud 9 following the success of the long-range, surface-to-surface missile Agni-IV on November 16. Often battered and bruised by the users for not delivering what has been promised, the DRDO is hogging all the limelight thanks to the big-bang strike by Agni-IV.
Known for his inimitable straight-forward comments, DRDO chief Dr V K Saraswat dedicated the success of the launch to the young DRDO. I dedicate this success to all the youngsters who have contributed with a large heart. I am not playing to the gallery as I have already communicated this internally. The mentoring we started a couple of years back is paying rich dividends. Give it to them (youngsters) as they deserve all the laurels, Saraswat told The New Indian Express.
Making mincemeat of technology control regimes, Saraswat said that Agni-IV virtually made these powers futile at one go. Nobody can stop us and nobody can dictate terms to us. Nobody can get us. It is not DRDO we are talking about, but India. We have shown the world how indigenous new-age technologies can be transferred efficiently on to a top-class product, he said.
The DRDO chief went on to say that the missile technology nuances mastered by his team has put India on par with the best in the world. We will soon tell another story when Agni-V comes out. It's a constant process and we are all geared up. We have got the momentum and we will get it going, Saraswat said.
The mood in the Missile Complex in Hyderabad too is ecstatic with a strong sense of 'yes-we-can-belief' settling in among various teams that have been working on Agni-IV.
Speaking to Express from Hyderabad over phone, G. Satheesh Reddy, Associate Director, Research Centre Imarat (RCI), said that DRDO's patience have finally paid off. After last year's failed campaign, we got on to the basics and dissected every system that went onboard. Today, with the success of Agni-IV we have witnessed the quantum jump in the state-of-the-art technologies in missile-making. We are now steadily moving towards our inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) dream and all efforts will now go into making of Agni-V, says Sateesh, a young DRDO brain, who got recently elevated to the 'Outstanding Scientist' status.
It was Satheesh's team that developed ring-laser gyro-based inertial navigation system (RINS) and micro-navigation system (MINGS) for Agni-IV. We are thrilled by the telemetry results of the missile and we couldn't have asked for a better launch, he said.
DRDO sources who were part of the Agni-IV campaign said that the missile could go up to a maximum of 3,700 km and during the maiden launch it touched between 3,200-3,400 km, before hitting with target.
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Tarmak007 -- A bold blog on Indian defence: Mom ‘n’ Missiles: Agniputhri keeps her word with A-IV launch | Tessy says it's her birthday gift to mother
Her big-ticket nuke-toy Agni-IV hit the target bang in 20 minutes after cruising over 3,000 km from the launch pad in Wheeler Island on Tuesday, November 15. Inside the Block Office (a special concrete shelter that can withstand a nuclear explosion or the impact if a missile misfires and falls over it) 48-year-old Tessy Thomas, Project Director, Agni-IV, was closely tracking her surface-to-surface pet, obediently following the trajectory as per the text book plans. Moments later, India’s first woman scientist to head a sensitive missile project broke down with joy. Very few knew that she had finally kept her word given to her mother Kunjamma Thomas, a qualified teacher, who lives alone in Allapuzaha (Kerala).
“It was a beautiful launch. My colleagues lifted me and it was a very emotional moment in my life. I called my mother immediately. It is my birthday gift and she turns 75 next month,” Tessy told The New Indian Express. Last year, the maiden launch of Agni-IV (then called as A-II Prime) clashed with her mother’s birthday. “I had promised that it would be my birthday gift to her. Unfortunately, the connector snapped just seconds after the lift-off and the mission failed,” Tessy told this correspondent, who too witnessed the launch from Wheeler Island, then.
Since the failure last year, Tessy and her team had gone through an hectic schedule ensuring that everything, including the missile, fell in place. “It’s an exciting feeling now. I owe it to my mother and my colleagues who believed in me. Everyone writes us off, the moment something goes wrong,” says Tessy, who works with Defence Research and Development Organization’s (DRDO) Hyderabad-based Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL).
On Tuesday, she was at the launch site till 2 am and was back at the site by 4 am. “My mother told me that there’s always a second chance and I really prayed hard. The success is the result of team work and there are hundreds who worked for the project,” she said.
DRDO chief Dr V K Saraswat says that Tessy is a simple soul, but a go-getter. “Her dedication inspires all of us. She is a role model for youngsters in DRDO. Her commitment is matchless and India needs more Tessys,” he says. Echoing his sentiments was Avinash Chander, Chief Controller (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO. “I am lucky to have such a pupil. She treats me as her guru and her zero-attitude has definitely done wonders,” says Avinash.
So how's the Agniputhri celebrating the success of Agni-IV? “Life continues as usual. I will be with my mother for her birthday,” says Tessy.