Pune, Dec 11: With the increasing threat of terrorism, the Defence Ministry is paying greater attention to developing technologies that could be used in situations of low intensity conflict. Teams of 15-20 scientists in over 10 laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation are working on developing such technologies, V.K. Saraswat, scientific advisor to the Defence Minister, said here on Friday.
Dr. Saraswat was speaking as the chief guest at the seventh biennial International High Energy Materials Conference and Exhibits organised by the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune, under the auspices of the High Energy Materials Society of India.
Dr. Saraswat said interactions were being held with anti-terrorist squads, paramilitary and police forces to get an idea of their requirements in dealing with terrorist situations. While working on such technologies, the focus was to keep them “user friendly and cost effective,” he said.
‘Technology convergence’
Director of the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune S. Sivaram, who was the guest of honour, also focussed on the fact that the war scenario had moved from the country’s borders to urban territories in the last decade. In order to tackle this reality, a convergence of a number of technologies was needed, he added.
“We need a confluence of information, communication and chemical technologies,” Dr. Sivaram said. “Detection of explosives in a controlled situation is useless. We need to develop a technology wherein a sensor senses the presence of an explosive and sends an SMS to mobile phones in a region of, say, 100 yards using the GPS [Global Positioning System]. Since everyone has mobile phones these days, this kind of technology would alert people immediately.
“In view of the fast diffusion of technologies these days, we also need to make sure that the technologies we develop cannot be duplicated and manufactured easily,” Dr. Sivaram added.
Dr. Saraswat stressed on the need to develop systems such as rocket motors and warheads using high energy materials that were smaller in size, lower in weight and more effective than the ones in use at present. On the need for the miniaturisation of rocket systems, he called for an emphasis on research and development in nanomaterials.
Eco-friendly materials
He spoke of the need to develop eco-friendly high energy materials. “In the context of global warming, it is necessary to move away from materials that are fuel rich or emit toxic gases. We need to develop green propellants with the help of green chemistry. For instance, the use of chlorine and fluorine needs to be brought down, as they are environmentally unfriendly. However, work on this is still in the infancy stage,” Dr. Saraswat said.
More than 450 delegates from organisations such as the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre participated in the conference, which would continue on Thursday. Thirty-two renowned high energy materials experts from seven countries — the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Israel, China and Malaysia — also participated.
–Agencies