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Council of Scientific & Industrial Research’s (CSIR) National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) has been successful in spinning off numerous defence applications for civilian use.
Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences and Vice-President, CSIR, Harsh Vardhan, during his maiden visit to NAL, watched many spinoff products on display and spent considerable time in understanding its applications.
Product rangeProminent products displayed during the Minister’s visit included Autoclave for airworthy composite processing, the first indigenous transmissometer (DHRISTI) for measuring runway visibility, the first indigenous electronic target (DHVANI) for the Indian Army, technologies for Radome design, active noise control, smart materials and surface modification.
“Such spinoffs demonstrated out-of-the-box thinking and were imperative for the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ programme,” said Vardhan.
Remarking on the need for inclusive innovation, he commended CSIR-NAL technologies that have significant societal impact such as solar selective coating for industrial and domestic solar water heaters, coatings to enhance tool wear resistance and wind-solar hybrid wind turbine system to power off-grid remote areas.
Vardhan pointed out that aerospace and defence is globally, a very highly competitive area, defined by technology denial regimes and highly proprietary systems.
He added that aerospace is an area marked by large investment and long gestation periods but nevertheless it is imperative to develop streams of innovation that provide significant long-term payoffs in terms of import substitution as well as cutting-edge technologies.
Civil aircraft developmentAs the only aerospace laboratory in the civilian sector, he appreciated the efforts of CSIR-NAL towards civil aircraft development starting with the two-seater Hansa in 2000, the 14-seater Saras in 2004 and the five-seater CNM-5 in 2011 which has the distinction of being the country’s first public-private partnership (with Mahindra Aerospace).
He emphasised the need for increased linkages with private industry that would enable quick commercial realisation of the developed technologies while recognising that the aerospace and defence industry in India was majorly in the government sector.
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