HYDERABAD: The technology developed by army is the first step of innovation that society makes. Those innovations go on to trickle to the civil society, becoming a way of life with time. Delivering the 22nd Late Prof S Venugopal Rao, IPS(Retd) Memorial Lecture on ‘Defence Technologies: A Critical Aid for Police Modernisation’ at RBVRR Telangana State Police Academy on Saturday, Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence R & D and chairman of DRDO echoed these ideas.
Any government across the world invests their limited resources in research and development to develop gadgets, technologies that are useful for defence forces, and those products, technologies, services that come out of it over time are customised for use in civil society, Dr Satheesh said in his speech.
Citing the example of satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) used by ‘Grey Hounds’ - elite police force, he said that initially the technology was developed and introduced by governments as it was useful for defence forces. “The same technology is used by all police forces to effectively fight naxalism today,” DGP Mahendar Reddy said. The research that is carried out faces the most difficult challenges of a society. The biggest one our society faces today is of cyber security, said Dr Satheesh.
In era when internet pervades the most remote corners of the country increasing the cyber threats everyday, scientists at Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are concentrating on cyber security and developing products which will be useful for police forces, said Dr Satheesh.
The DRDO’s chairman said that Light Intensity Conflicts are not like wars and the challenges in these kind of conflicts include operations in the jungles, high altitudes, mountains and hills.
Addressing retired Police officers and officer trainees, Dr Satheesh said, “You have to take care of buried explosives, mines, improvised explosives. Thereafter, you have to dispose them off very safely.” He said that the DRDO has developed various products such as plastic bullets, explosives detection kits, battle field surveillance radars and others.
He extended a welcome to the state police for cooperation in developing task specific technologies. “I request police officers in this State to interact with us. We can develop specific equipment which are required for specific applications,” he said.Telangana Director-General of Police M Mahendar Reddy said that no government can sanction manpower matching population of a region or the problems it faces, and that technology is a force multiplier.