Scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are working on Scramjet-powered aircraft which can travel from New Delhi to New York in one hour, Vijay Kumar Saraswat, scientific advisor to the Union Minister of Defence and director-general of DRDO, has said.
Saraswat was conferred with the Doctorate in Science by Koneru Lakshmaiah University at its second convocation held here on Monday.
Saraswat who is popularly known as ‘Missile Man 2’ of India after APJ Abdul Kalam, has made enormous contribution to the development of many sophisticated missiles by the DRDO.
Addressing students and faculty of KL University at Peacock Hall, he said the mission of the DRDO is to design and develop state-of-the-art defence systems and technologies required for the Indian armed forces.
Elaborating on Scramjet, he said NASA DSTO of Australia had already demonstrated this technology through the flight test conducted in 2010. The new technology has got wide applications in the fields of defence, space and civil aviation. In future, wars will be fought remotely. Hence, focus should be laid on development of sophisticated and advanced technologies, he said.
Saraswat said only four persons out of 1,000 are opting for science and technology and research against 8 in China, 55 in the USA, 76 in Israel, 76 in Germany, 46 in Korea and 110 in Japan. The demand for quality engineers and technologists is bound to increase in the coming years in India. There should be mobility of scientists and technologists among the industry, academic and research institutions and laboratories to ensure that India achieves rapid advancement in the field of science and technology, he said.
KLU chancellor GL Datta, vice-chancellor R Sreehari Rao, president Koneru Satyanarayana and others were present.