Ahmedabad, Oct 20: Of the defence manufacturing projects chosen for the joint development between Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the industry, the indigenous missile Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) has been successfully tested, and a commercial version will be out in a year, stated a top official from Adani Defence.

The company was tasked with developing missile products under Development-cum-Production Partner (DCPP) policy and the flight trials of VSHORADS systems in September 2022.

"A couple of weeks back we had successful flight trials of the VSHORADS systems. We are working as a DCPP partner of DRDO and the progress is very positive. In the next 12 months, we should be able to come out with an industrialised version of VSHORADS platform," said Ashish Rajvanshi, CEO of Adani Defence and Aerospace, on the sidelines of the DefExpo 2022 in Gandhinagar.

He added that the missile system VSHORADS is considered a significant need for the Indian Army and Indian Air Force.

Under the DCCP policy, DRDO designs the product and hands over the drawings and technical particulars to the private or public industry to make a prototype. This prototype is then put to tests and trials. Based on the trial’s outcome, these prototypes are allowed for commercial production.

Future roadmap

Giving an overview of Adani Defence's future roadmap, Rajvanshi stated that the company is working to support Atmanirbhar Mission and help the country reduce imports of defence products.

"What we have witnessed in Russia -Ukraine war is the use of information intelligence and the usage of javelins, stingers and missiles, which was able to bring down the heavy equipment. If you look at India, strengthening the air defence is a big priority. We are working with DRDO for the next gen technology in missiles and guided ammunitions," said Rajvanshi.

Adani is building next-level capabilities for end-to-end manufacturing of small arms such as artillery guns and howitzers - towed and mounted. The company is building India's largest integrated ammunition complex near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh over 500 acres with a focus on small-medium and large-calibre ammunition, among others. Once commissioned, the company looks to export these products.

"Exports across small arms, drones, ammunition portfolios will be an important chunk rather than just serving the local market," Rajvanshi said.

After forging a joint venture with Israeli firm Elbit Systems in 2016 for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, Adani Group's defence arm, Adani Defence, has made two acquisitions. The first in 2018-19 of Alpha Design Technologies Pvt Ltd has operations in the designing, developing and manufacturing  of defence electronics and avionics. And during the DefExpo 2022 on Tuesday, the company announced its second acquisition of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firm Air Works for an enterprise value of ₹400 crore.

On further acquisitions, Rajvanshi said, "There are not many options available in this market. It (more acquisitions) is too early to say, but there are not many targets. We look for nuggets, where we think that future potential is much more than what they are doing today."

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