DRDO's Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) in Gwalior has developed a Ship Installed Chemical Agent Detection System (SICADS) in collaboration with Larsen & Toubro (L&T). This system is designed to detect chemical warfare agents as well as selected toxic industrial chemicals, enhancing the safety and operational capabilities of naval vessels.
    
Key Features of SICADS

Detection Capabilities: The SICADS is engineered to identify a range of chemical agents, providing critical early warning to naval personnel against potential threats.

Collaboration: The development involved close cooperation with L&T, leveraging their expertise in advanced detection technologies.

Deployment: The system is intended for installation on various ships, contributing to the Indian Navy's defence readiness and response capabilities against chemical threats.

About DRDE

Defence Research and Development Established (DRDE) is one of the premier laboratories under the umbrella of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), nation’s premier defence research organisation. The history of DRDE goes back to Jiwaji Industrial Research Laboratory (JIRL) established at Gwalior in 1948. Just after the Chinese aggression in 1962, this laboratory was taken over by DRDO as an attachment of Defence Research Laboratory (Materials), Kanpur. DRDE has been working relentlessly to serve the nation by developing technology and products for defence against Chemical and Biological (Chem-Bio) threats for armed forces as well as for society after becoming an independent laboratory since 1973.

Today, DRDE has evolved as a centre of excellence with technological core competence in detection, protection and decontamination against chemical and biological warfare agents by virtue of its expertise developed and experience gathered through the last five decades of R&D efforts. The laboratory has many distinctions of being the only laboratory in India having OPCW (Organization for The Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) designation for off-site chemical analysis of environmental and biomedical samples for CW agents.  Moreover, a new facility known as Centre for Advance Research on Biological Defence (CARBD) is being established at Gwalior to handle pathogenic microbes.

Agencies