Behind every successful man, there is a woman is a popular adage. But, behind the development of India’s Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Shield is a bright defence scientist Shashikala Sinha.

As project Director, Shashikala led the March 1 test flight from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast that demonstrated the capability to launch a missile that can intercept an incoming missile and destroy it in endo-atmosphere. “Achieving a direct hit in a complex BMD mission is no mean feat”, said Subhash Bhamre, Union Minister of State for Defence, at a function here.

The 56-year-old mother of two is spearheading India’s charge in building an impregnable BMD, which will catapult it into the exclusive club of nations that include the US, Russia and France to possess the technology.

Minister’s pat

An engineering graduate from the IIT-Kharagpur, Shashikala joined the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) in 2001. Within a decade, she became the PD and drove a team to successfully test the indigenous, deployable configuration of the endo-atmospheric interception.

Shashikala, with the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), is an expert in the development of flight vehicles, RF seekers, Radomes, radar cross sections and related technologies. On the occasion of Women’s Day, the Union Minister congratulated her and complimented the efforts of the Defence Women’s Forum and Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), which organised MUDRA that showcased women as dynamic leaders in decision making in defence R&D. Interestingly, the present Director of ASL, Tessy Thomas, was hailed as the ‘Missile Woman’, for heading Agni IV mission.

Long-range interceptor

The last week’s success will propel India into accelerating its mission to build a Missile Defence Shield, wherever it is required. Shashikala is currently involved in the task of the design and development of a multiple-role long-range interceptor that counters a wide range of threats testing many new technologies. Away from the engaging strategic research, Shashikala pursues her hobbies of painting and sketching.

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