‘JKP vehicles getting fully armoured’
Prabhat Ranjan Deen
Hyderabad, Jan 8: Bullet Proof armouring of Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force is being done by Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI), an undertaking of the Ministry of Defence so that the movement of security forces by helicopter can be safe in border as well as Naxalite affected areas. Bullet Proof armouring of MI-17 helicopters is also being done to keep VVIP flights completely safe. The vehicles of Jammu and Kashmir Police are also getting fully armoured by MIDHANI.
Chairman-cum-CMD of Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI), Dr. Sanjay Kumar Jha officially confirmed this. Dr. Jha also confirmed that Dilbag Singh, the DGP of Jammu and Kashmir Police visited Rohtak unit of MIDHANI and was satisfied to see the process of armouring of the vehicles. Bullet Proof armouring of more than two dozen vehicles of Jammu and Kashmir Police has already been done and those vehicles are fully operational.
Dr Jha said, Bullet Proof armouring is a guarantee of security. “Whether we are at the border or face to face with internal militants and there is a barrage of bullets, only bullet proof armouring will protect us. Whether it is a human being or a vehicle, a ship that sails on water or a plane or helicopter flying in the sky, Bullet Proof armouring is very important for the safety of all of them. If a helicopter is shot from below, it’s all over,” he said.
MIDHANI has taken up a unique project in this regard, Dr. Jha said. MIDHANI is doing the entire armouring of Mi-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force. “You already know that Mi-17 helicopters are widely used for Air Force, Army and VVIP movements. MIDHANI has taken up the work of Bullet Proof armouring of MI-17 helicopters on top priority. Be it Naxal area or border area, these helicopters are being armoured by MIDHANI to protect them from any firing from below,” he said.
Referring to Jammu and Kashmir in particular, the Chairman of MIDHANI said that if they provide personal security to the officers or jawans of Armed Forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
“If we protect their vehicles, then there will be a lot of relief. With this, you will be able to complete your operations or tasks and the casualty graph will come down significantly. But the Armed Forces are not getting this work done. Now, if the houses or barracks on the border are made of Bullet Proof steel sheets, then the people or soldiers living there will be completely safe.”
MIDHANI’s Bullet Proof jackets and head-gears are being supplied to paramilitary forces and some State police also. “We have given it to the Telangana Police, Arunachal Pradesh Police and to ITBP. When there was a requirement from their side, we supplied it. We tried for CRPF also. We gave them complete armouring of a CRPF bus. That bus is plying in Jammu and Kashmir. MIDHANI’s one crore rupees were also spent in it, but after that, CRPF did not respond at all. While CRPF had said that many of their buses have to have bullet-proof armouring”, Dr Jha said.
Had the CRPF buses been Bullet Proof armoured, the Pulwama-like incident would not have happened… The chairman of MIDHANI remained silent when this point was raised.
However, regarding the Bullet Proof armouring of Jammu and Kashmir Police vehicles being done by MIDHANI, Dr Jha said that the Rohtak unit of MIDHANI is doing this work. About two dozen vehicles have already been handed over to the Jammu and Kashmir Police after being armoured from MIDHANI. Dr Jha said that ADG MK Sinha of Jammu and Kashmir Police took meaningful initiative in this work and DGP Dilbag Singh of Jammu and Kashmir Police had also visited the Rohtak unit of MIDHANI. “I also had a long talk with Dilbag Singh. Jammu and Kashmir Police is completely satisfied with the work of MIDHANI,” he added.
Recently, when President Draupadi Murmu came to Hyderabad, the vehicle made for the Jammu and Kashmir Police was brought to Hyderabad and shown to her. The vehicle is wrapped with a bullet-proof protective sheet from all sides. The cameras are fitted on it in such a way that the all-round view is clearly visible from inside the vehicle. There are also arrangements to give a befitting reply to the bullets from inside the vehicle. Many other modern provisions have also been made in this, so that the force can patrol the operational area fearlessly with full comfort and complete its task.
Dr Jha said that work is going on, on many more projects related to Jammu and Kashmir. “Soon we can also supply Bullet Proof jackets and Bullet Proof head-gears for the Jammu and Kashmir Police.”
MIDHANI Chairman said that their association with Jammu and Kashmir is not only commercial but also emotional. “We want to provide such items for their protection so that the people of our police force can serve the country by being completely safe. This is the reason why I am personally monitoring the projects in Jammu and Kashmir. We are working on some more excellent projects regarding Jammu and Kashmir, about which we will tell in detail later.”
Dr Jha claimed that MIDHANI has gained expertise in steel-fibre technology. From the same fibre technology, MIDHANI has manufactured and supplied Bullet-Proof jackets. “We are further developing the technology of Bullet Proof jackets. With regard to Bullet Proof jackets, we are working on such a project that if successful in it, we will be the top leader in the whole of India in this field. We are working to bring Bullet Proof jackets to the best comfort-level. When our security forces wear Bullet Proof jackets, it should not be heavy because they are already heavily burdened with arms and ammunition etc. So our aim is to reduce the weight of bullet proof jackets, for this, we will replace steel with steel-fibre and make it more robust in terms of safety. We are working fast on the technology to reduce the weight of fibre bullet proof jackets as well. Similarly, we are making many sophisticated changes in Bullet Proof head-gears as well,” he disclosed.
The important project of indigenization of fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force is in the hands of MIDHANI. Will you tell something about that?
To this question, Dr. Jha said that they are working on a big project regarding aero engines. The Jaguar fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force was taken from France. But its maintenance and overhauling of its engine etc. is done in India only. Over a period of time, many engine parts are replaced. MIDHANI indigenized the Jaguar engine. In technical tests, the engine developed by MIDHANI was found to be superior to the original Jaguar engine. Today, Jaguar engines use parts from MIDHANI and are now in regular supply. MIDHANI’s components are flying regularly in Jaguar fighter aircrafts.
MIDHANI’s chairman said that whether it is Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) or Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), all the 52 satellites that have gone into space so far, all those rockets have MIDHANI materials. It can be said that all the rockets that have been made in India so far have metals from MIDHANI and till date not a single rocket has failed due to the metals from MIDHANI.
“MIDHANI also has an important role in the manufacturing of missiles. Whatever missiles the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) makes, be it Akash, Astra, Agni, Prithvi… any missile, metals from MIDHANI are used in it. All these are proofs of the authenticity of MIDHANI,” he said.
In the same context, Dr. Jha said that MIDHANI has also manufactured the materials of the rocket which will be made for the Gaganyaan project to take humans into space. Gaganyaan is slightly different from normal satellites. Gaganyaan is about to go into space with humans. In view of human life going into space, utmost care has been taken to keep its risk-factor zero. It has been designed in such a way that there is no risk factor. This is the reason why no deviation even to the microscopic level was found anywhere in the material prepared by MIDHANI. By the way, normally deviation does not come in other satellites as well. If this ever happens, it is corrected. But no scope for correction is left at any level in the making of satellites and rockets carrying humans into space. If there is a deviation, it is rejected and another construction is started. All top standard raw-materials were used for Gaganyaan and its quality was tested time and again. The standards of testing are kept world class.
Has MIDHANI made the equipment for the four Indian Air Force Pilots undergoing zero-gravity acclimatization training in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan mission?
Dr Jha said that MIDHANI has prepared a special chamber for the training of zero-gravity acclimatization being given in deep-water. Other technical components used in that chamber were naturally taken from other establishments. Dr. Jha said, the training of pilots is being done in the chamber of MIDHANI here as well and they will stay in the same chamber of MIDHANI in space also. “It has been built and it has already been supplied to the ISRO. A lot of other work is going on in it after we have supplied it… It is a very complex system. Yes, the work of MIDHANI has already been completed,” he added.
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