DRDO eyeing defence exports in years ahead; Says international demand for BrahMos, Akash & Pinaka

QUEPEM: The Defence Research & Development Organisation ( DRDO) is eyeing export potential and says that there is international demand for its systems like BrahMos, Akash and Pinaka.


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At the Defence Expo 2016, S Christopher, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and DG DRDO said that DRDO should definitely look at exporting its products. "I for one try to bring in the concept that we should export also. "





Elaborating on this, Christopher said, "The reason is, we have been criticized many times for quality and inferior design. I don't deny that there are occasions where we might have done a design which is not good, also it is possible, that despite the best design, the product was not produced according to the need. In both the cases, it is better that we export as well. The advantage of that will be that we will get, if at all, criticism from an entirely third person, or country."





Talking about the new Defence Procurement Policy ( DPP), Christopher said that a big positive that has emerged from it is that the time period it takes to first design and then develop a product will be reduced substantially. This he feels is a big boost for the DRDO, which has been hit at for the huge gestation period involved in any indigenous defence product's design and development.