Defence Research and Development Laboratory

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Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) is an Indian missile development laboratory, part of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Their charter is centered on the design, development, and flight evaluation of various types of missile systems for the Indian armed forces.

The organization's vision statement^[1] reads:

"Be a design and development house for missile based weapon systems required for tactical applications from multiple platforms."

Its stated mission^[1] is to:

"Develop the state of the art infrastructure and technologies required for different classes of missiles. Transfer the technology to production agency for guided missile products."

In 1958, the government of India constituted a team of Indian engineers, mostly from the Indian Ordnance Factories- called the Special Weapons Development Team - to research guided missile weapons development. It was founded by S. P. Chakravarti, the father of Electronics and Telecommunication engineering in India, who also founded the DLRL and the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE).^[2] This team was later expanded into DRDL, a full-fledged laboratory, in June 1961, at the campus of Defence Science Centre, Delhi.^[3][4] It later shifted to Hyderabad after the state government granted them the former Nizam's army barracks. This was the genesis of the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL),^[5] under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The DRDO launched Project Devil and Project Valiant to reverse engineer Soviet-origin guided missiles and create intercontinental ballistic missiles, respectively, which prompted the DRDL to begin developing missile guidance systems. Although both initiatives were abandoned before they were successful, the work completed aided DRDL in increasing its capacity. Afterwards, this assisted DRDL in leading the Integrated Guided Missiles Development Program (IGMDP). By 2011, India started producing cutting-edge components in-house and was fully independent in end-to-end missile development.^[4]

Weapon systems developed by DRDL include:-^[6]

• Akash surface-to-air missile
• Astra air-to-air missile
• Nag anti-tank guided missile
• QRSAM surface-to-air missile

A 120-second ground test of an active-cooled scramjet combustor for next-generation missiles was conducted by DRDL on 21 January 2025.^[7][8] The test showed stable combustion and successful ignition. Together with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the private sector, DRDL has taken the lead in developing an improved ceramic thermal barrier coating (TBC), endothermic scramjet fuel, and a long-duration scramjet engine. A novel flame stabilization method was added to the scramjet combustor, which maintains a constant flame inside the combustor at air speeds greater than 1.5 km/s. In addition to improving cooling, the endothermic fuel shortens ignition times. With its excellent temperature resistance, the cutting-edge ceramic TBC can function above the melting point of steel.^[9][10]