In a notional lease of life for the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) and the crippled Trishul missile in particular, the Government has approved a one-year extension for the DRDO to wrap everything up. It is clear, however, that there will be no further expenditure on the Trishul programme, effectively ending a two decade development run that cost over Rs 250 crore.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said there was no question of “shelving” the Trishul programme, though ministry sources told The Indian Express that the extension carried little weight as it was just an administrative formality. DRDO has been granted the extension merely to conduct a “technical audit” of the technologies developed under the Trishul programme for possible use in future programmes.

The extension was granted under stiff resistance from the DRDO, which saw disbanding the Trishul as a deep embarrassment to the 200-odd scientists who have contributed to the programme, some of whom now man the highest levels of DRDO Headquarters.

The extension has however made the Navy nervous. With DRDO officially communicating its intention to conduct “project closure” and the government extending project time, it is apprehensive that the indigenous technology may be forced upon it next year. The DRDO, however, has given no indications about whether it plans to continue test-firings. Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash yesterday threw his weight behind the Israeli Barak anti-missile system, but the navy at large is of the opinion that the Trishul’s fundamental technology is obsolete.

... contd.