A lot of technologies developed to deal with cold weather in northern mountains: DRDO chief

A lot of techlogies have been developed to deal with extreme cold wear in country's rrn mountains and armed forces are using all of m, DRDO chairman G Saesh Reddy said on Thursday. se range from techlogies developed for clothing for armed forces to predicting avalanches, he said during a webinar organised by India Foundation.

To a question on wher armed forces are prepared to deal with harsh winter as more troops are being moved to Ladakh amid border tensions re, Reddy said, "In rrn mountain region...about sw and all that... lot of techlogies have been developed towards that, wher clothing that is required, shoes which are required, or heating elements which are required, things related to heating of food”.

"Many things have been developed, including avalanche and sw prediction. Many things which are required for that have been developed in country and y are all being used by armed forces today," Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman said.

Ladakh region witnesses extreme cold wear and during winters, temperatures fall far below freezing point. Tensions have escalated in Pangong lake area after China unsuccessfully attempted to occupy certain Indian areas in sourn bank of lake. India has rushed in additional troops and weapons to sensitive region.

On Monday, Indian army said Chinese military carried out "provocative military movements" to "unilaterally" change status quo on sourn bank of Pangong lake on intervening night of August 29 and 30 but attempt was thwarted by Indian troops. In Galwan Valley clash between armies of India and China in June, 20 Indian army personnel including a colonel were killed. China has t yet released any casualty figures.

Since clashes, tensions are on rise on rrn border along China. Reddy said to attract young minds, DRDO is also working with technical education departments and students have been given electives in B.Tech courses. He said a lot of colleges in country will also have defence related courses.

“Similarly, we have brought in certified courses through our academic institute in Pune DIAT (Defence Institute of Advance Techlogy) where a lot of people are getting trained in Artificial Intelligence and cyber techlogies.

Every year, 1,000 people in each area will be trained, he said.

“We are also trying to take youngsters in DRDO in a big way,” Reddy added.   If country wants to transform itself from an arms importer to exporter, industry has to come forward, he stressed.

“ industry cant sustain for long by just supplying it to our own armed forces. y have to export. If you have to sustain for 10-15 years, n you need to supply world. Your systems have to be state of art. You should have a sustained quality of product. cost of system has to be low,” he added. 

(Im Credits: Twitter/@DRDO_India)