Prelims: Current events of national and international importance | Defence
Why in News?
Recently, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully developed indigenous armour panels that are 20% lighter than existing protection systems.
Key Highlights
- Ballistic Protection & Weight Reduction
- Designed to withstand high-threat impacts from 30mm armour-piercing rounds, matching top global military standards.
- Achieves a 20% weight reduction compared to conventional steel armour variants by leveraging advanced composite matrices, ceramics, and layered structural configurations.
- Target Vehicle Platforms
- Tailored for Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), Light Tanks, and Future Infantry Combat Vehicles (FICVs), where maintaining strict weight limits without compromising crew safety is paramount.
- Technology Transfer (ToT)
- DRDO has initiated the Transfer of Technology (ToT) process, offering the manufacturing know-how to domestic private-sector defence firms to ramp up industrial-scale production.
Strategic Significance
- Mountain Warfare - Lighter combat vehicles and tanks are vital for rapid deployment and operational maneuverability in rugged high-altitude sectors (such as northern borders), where excess weight severely restricts mobility.
- Countering Modern Battlefield Threats - Modern armored vehicles face multi-vector threats, including advanced drone munitions, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and RPGs.
- Reducing base vehicle armour weight frees up payload capacity for active protection systems (APS) and electronic counter-measure suites.
- Boost to Aatmanirbhar Bharat - Replaces reliance on imported specialized vehicular protection components with robust, indigenous manufacturing capabilities.
Reference
Times of India | DRDO develops 20% more lightweight armour
