The Soft Recovery System (SRS) bears the potential to arrest the motion of a 30 mm supersonic projectile moving at a speed of roughly Mach 3 which is three times the speed of sound, within a distance of about 50 meters.
This pioneering SRS technology has been developed under the collaborative efforts and leadership of Prof. Nachiketa Tiwari of IIT Kanpur, and Alok Prasad, General Manager of OFMK.
A Soft Recovery System is used for the recovery of a projectile after initial impact with minimum damage. This is to ensure the development of smart and intelligent warheads with maximum effectiveness and minimum collateral damage.
Acquisition of SRS technology is a pre-requisite for the development of smart and guided munitions, as it can provide a test bed to prove out smart munition designs.
Former Lt. Gen. (Dr.) A. Mukherjee said “Heartiest congratulations to the whole team for successfully developing the Soft Recovery System for projectiles in conjunction with OFMK. It is a milestone in the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the Govt of India.”
Former Lt. Gen. Sanjay Kulkarni remarked “My Compliments to Professor Nachiketa Tiwari of IIT Kanpur and Alok Prasad, GM of OFMK for jointly developing the Soft Recovery System (SRS) to strengthen the growing need for Smart Munitions to ultimately manufacture Smart Bombs which will greatly increase the accuracy of the Artillery Shell. Artillery Gun fire shells have huge dispersion and are known as area weapons; now with increased kill probability by the SRS technology, the Artillery will be able to fire Killer Projectiles which will be more lethal and accurate, thereby cutting on the cost to neutralize targets. I sincerely believe this will strengthen our resolve to become Atmanirbhar in critical technology and also enhance our export potential.”
According to Senior General Manager Bharat Singh Ordnance Factory Medak, “Development of futuristic ammunition requires advanced validation techniques and Soft Recovery System is the most important of them all. It is a unique capability which should be further expanded to higher calibre ammunition. Such testing facilities will help design agencies and defense startup companies in the field of smart munitions development.”
According to Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur , “IITK advocates for multi-stakeholder collaboration for holistic development in research and innovation sector. This is another prime step in this regard and I’m glad that IIT Kanpur has contributed for a key development in India’s defense field by developing the first Soft Recovery System. It’d not only assist in the effective recovery of supersonic projectiles, but also would contribute towards the larger goal of attaining India’s self-reliance in developing advanced defense systems.”
At present, only a few countries have a Soft Recovery System, and now India has joined the league. In this collaborative Research and Development endeavor, IIT Kanpur team was involved in concept development, design and virtual validation of the SRS.
They also undertook the testing of sub assemblies while Armored Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL)’s Ordnance Factory Medak (OFMK) was instrumental in fabricating and assembling the roughly 50 meters long assembly to exacting standards. They also developed the test infrastructure for the SRS.
The joint IITK-AVNL R and D effort has not only formulated India’s first Soft Recovery System (SRS) but also has yielded several proprietary technologies, which will help India in attaining the atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) goals in the defense sector.
Highlights
The SRS would facilitate recovery of supersonic projectiles and would contribute in strengthening India’s advanced defense systems
With this development, India has joined the league of the few countries who have a Soft Recovery System
