The state-owned research body has also filed more than 141 patents this year. The Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) accorded this year is the highest ever accorded to DRDO-developed systems in any year

More than ₹1,42,000 crore worth Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) was accorded this year by the Ministry of Defence for induction of several Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed systems, its chairman Dr Samir V Kamat said on Monday.

Celebrating the 66th Foundation Day of DRDO, Dr Kamat, who is also Secretary Department of Defence, stated that so far 1,650 transfers of technology (ToT) of in-house developed systems were handed over to Indian industries, out of which 109 Licensing Agreements for Transfer of Technology (LAToTs) were signed with indigenous companies this year for manufacturing products, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

“The Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) has also been accorded this year for induction of several DRDO developed systems worth more than 1 lakh 42 thousand crores. This is the highest ever accorded to DRDO-developed systems in any year. This constitutes a significant component of Aatmanirbharta in Defence Production,” Dr Kamat said.

He stated that several systems have also either completed or are in the final stages of user evaluation and many other systems are undergoing developmental trials. Kamat set the target for DRDO to ensure that the systems that are under user trials and final stages of developmental trials, get accepted by the user in 2024 so that they are ready for induction.

The state-owned research body has also filed more than 141 patents this year and 212 of them were given the go-ahead nod but the DRDO chairman hoped that this number will increase significantly in the years to come.

To make the Technology Development Fund (TDF) and allied schemes more effective, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh constituted a committee headed by Dr Kakodkar, former Secretary DAE and Dr Saraswat, Member NITI Aayog, to suggest ways to fund cutting-edge research like what Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) does in the US. The committee has submitted its report and once the Minister gives his approval we will implement this scheme in 2024, stated the DRDO chief.

He also launched the Quantity-Distance Software developed by its Pune-based lab, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), to automate the setting of explosives and related buildings. The software is an essential tool for all MoD establishments engaged in creating explosive related infrastructure in optimum time and with greater precision.