Pearson Engineering’s business with India began in December 2013 following a visit by the DRDO’s Combat vehicle R & D establishment to the former’s engineering and manufacturing facilities. Thereafter, working in partnership with the MoD-owned, Bengaluru-based Bharat Earth Moving Ltd (BEML) based, Pearson Engineering had emerged as the winner during IA trials for the selection of a surface mine clearance system (SMCS) for ICVs.
The IA first installed such systems on its BMP-2 ICVs and later on Pearson’s minefield breeching systems like track-width and full-width mine-ploughs also emerged as winners for fitment on the IA’s T-72CIA, T-90S and Arjun Mk.1A MBTs. The first such contract between the Indian MoD and BEML was signed in March 2016 for the delivery of 41 complete sets, with first deliveries commencing later that year.
Ship-Launch System For DRDO
The SLS, which was publicly displayed for the very first time at the DEFEXPO-2018 exposition two year ago, is a universal system capable of housing cannister-encased missiles meant for vertical launch, such as the AAD endo-atmospheric interceptor missile, Nirbhay land-attack cruise missile, and the BrahMos-NG supersonic anti-ship/land attack cruise missile.
The SLS is thus indicative of the DRDO’s plans for developing warship-based, cannistered-encased vertically-launched variants of such missiles in response to the Indian Navy’s future requirements.
The slide above also indicates that the land-mobile TEL-based variant of the SLS is now being developed for the projected Akash-2 MR-SAM now under development. The diagram shows six cannister-encased Akash-2 MR-SAMs being carried by the TEL.
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Spinoffs From RF Seeker R & D
The last two decades have seen the DRDO’s Hyderabad-based Research Centre Imarat (RCI) develop a range of active X-band and Ku-band RF seekers for diverse applications, ranging from those for the Astra family of BVRAAMs to those for cruise missiles like the BrahMos-1.
In addition, the development of Ka-band active seekers has been taken up for futuristic applications on the projected PDV exo-atmospheric interceptor vehicle and the XR-SAM. The private-sector Kalyani Group too has begun developing Ku-band active seekers and plans to further expand this product portfolio.
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Strangely, however, the DRDO has not yet made any effort to develop a medium-range high-subsonic anti-ship cruise missile that can be launched from the air, from warships and from submarines. Since the terminal homing active seekers operating in the X-, Ku- and Ka-bands are scalable, it should not be impossible for the DRDO to develop an advanced version of the MBDA-developed Sea Eagle anti-ship cruise missile (in air-launched, submarine-launched, warship-launched and ground-launched versions), which was acquired by the Indian Navy in the mid-1980s in an air-launched configuration. The last of the Sea Eagles got decommissioned only earlier this decade.
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Incidentally, there are presently two companies in India that have developed a family of turbojet engines required for powering such high-subsonic anti-ship cruise missiles.
One of them is the Kalyani Group, while the other is the subsidiary of PBS Aerospace of the Czech Republic, whose details can be found here:
