Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in sea water, aqua regia, and chlorine.
The Arjun is a third generation main battle tank developed by the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), for the Indian Army. The tank is named after Arjuna, the archer prince who is the main protagonist of the Indian epic poem Mahabharata. Design work began in 1986 and was finished in 1996. The Arjun main battle tank entered service with the Indian Army in 2004. The 43rd Armoured Regiment, formed in 2009, was the first regiment to receive the Arjun.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, headquartered in Delhi, India. It was formed in 1958 by the merger of the Technical Development Establishment and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production of the Indian Ordnance Factories with the Defence Science Organisation under the administration of Jawaharlal Nehru. Subsequently, Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS) was constituted in 1979 as a service of Group 'A' Officers / Scientists directly under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence.
Titanium alloys are alloys that contain a mixture of titanium and other chemical elements. Such alloys have very high tensile strength and toughness. They are light in weight, have extraordinary corrosion resistance and the ability to withstand extreme temperatures. However, the high cost of processing limits their use to military applications, aircraft, spacecraft, bicycles, medical devices, jewelry, highly stressed components such as connecting rods on expensive sports cars and some premium sports equipment and consumer electronics.
The GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri is an afterburning turbofan project under development by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Bengaluru, India. An Indian design, the Kaveri was originally intended to power production models of the HAL Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. However, the Kaveri programme failed to satisfy the necessary technical requirements on time and was officially delinked from the Tejas programme in September 2008.
The Directorate of Ordnance is an authority under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India.. Its primary work is to managment, give instructions and make coordination of government Ordance production public companies. It is the main regulatory body of Indian Ordnance and its administration civil service, Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS). The DOO(C&S) earlier known as Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories. In 2021, Government having corporatise the functions of the 41 Indian Ordnance Factories into 7 Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), the Government is merging them again in 2024, as the output of one factory serves as the input of the other.
Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited, is a specialized metals and metal alloys manufacturing facility in India, located in Hyderabad, Telangana. It is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), under the administrative control of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. MIDHANI is the only producer of titanium in India.
The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic flight. It is being developed as a carrier vehicle for hypersonic and long-range cruise missiles, and will have multiple civilian applications including the launching of small satellites at low cost. The HSTDV program is being run by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Ti-6Al-4V, also sometimes called TC4, Ti64, or ASTM Grade 5, is an alpha-beta titanium alloy with a high specific strength and excellent corrosion resistance. It is one of the most commonly used titanium alloys and is applied in a wide range of applications where low density and excellent corrosion resistance are necessary such as e.g. aerospace industry and biomechanical applications.
Palle Rama Rao FREng is an Indian scientist noted for his contribution to the field of Physical and Mechanical Metallurgy. He has collaborated and conducted research activities for over dozen universities and associations all over India and abroad. He has been honoured with the titles of Padma Vibhushan in 2011 by president of India for his contributions to scientific community. He is acting as the chairman, Governing Council, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad.
Vallampadugai Srinivasa Raghavan Arunachalam was an Indian scientist and former head of Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO). He was the founder and chairman of CSTEP, a science and technology think tank.
Brahm Prakash, was a metallurgist known for his work with nuclear materials in India.
Bal Raj Nijhawan, was an Indian metallurgist, author and the first Director of Indian origin of the National Metallurgical Laboratory, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He was a recipient of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the highest Indian science award, which he received in 1964 in the Engineering sciences category. The Government of India honoured him in 1958, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his services to the nation.
Titanium Sponge Plant of India is located at Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML), Chavara, Kollam district of Kerala. Titanium sponge plant is a manufacturing plant which produces titanium sponge, a material which has very useful applications in space programme and other strategic areas like aeronautics, light defence vehicles etc. The plant in India is the only one in the world which can undertake all the different activities of manufacturing aerospace grade titanium sponge under one roof. The material is an alloy product which is produced through Kroll process which includes leaching or heated vacuum distillation to make the metal almost 99.7% pure.
The Iron and Steel industry in India is among the most important industries within the country. India surpassed Japan as the second largest steel producer in January 2019. As per worldsteel, India's crude steel production in 2018 was at 106.5 million tonnes (MT), 4.9% increase from 101.5 MT in 2017, which means that India overtook Japan as the world's second largest steel production country. Japan produced 104.3 MT in year 2018, decrease of 0.3% compared to year 2017.
Kuppuswamy Anantha Padmanabhan is an Indian academician well known for his contributions in the field of materials & metallurgical science and engineering. In particular, he is well renowned for his contributions to superplasticity. He is currently professor of eminence (honorary), Anna University, Chennai; member, Research and Innovation Advisory Board, TCS and a research advisor to TCS and Aditya Birla S&T Company. He is a former director of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and a former dean, academic research, IIT Madras, India. In 1994, he became the first Indian to receive the "Forschungspreis" of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. For his research contributions, the University of Cambridge, UK, conferred on him the highest academic degree ‘Sc.D’ in 1998, and he is the first Indian engineer/ materials specialist to be conferred this honour. He also served as the Mercator Professor of DFG at the Institute of Materials Physics, University of Münster, Germany.
The All-Russian Institute of Light Alloys, formerly the Vils Scientific Production Association is a company based in Moscow, Russia. Rostec is the largest shareholder, controlling 39% of the institute.
Dipankar Banerjee is an Indian physical metallurgist, materials engineer and a former chief controller of R&D at the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Known for his studies on titanium alloys, Banerjee is an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies namely Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Sciences, India as well as the Indian National Academy of Engineering. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Engineering Sciences in 1993. He received the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2005.
Pralay is a canisterised surface-to-surface, short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) for battlefield use developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India. The missile is an amalgamation of technologies developed for exoatmospheric interceptor missile Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) from the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme, and the Prahaar tactical missile. The project to develop Pralay was sanctioned in March 2015 with a budget of ₹332.88 crore.
DRDO Young Scientist Laboratories (DYSLs) are five specialised research laboratories located in five different cities of India, inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India on 2 January 2020. Each laboratory deals with a focused area of science - artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, cognitive technologies, asymmetric technologies and smart materials. The labs are located in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. As per the norms laid out, everyone, including director, at the labs is under 35 years of age. DRDO Chairman G.Satheesh Reddy conveyed to The Hindu on 3 January 2020 that the laboratories are formally operational.
