TDF programmes promote ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence sector, says MoD

The Technology Development Fund (TDF) encourages the public and private sectors to create an ecosystem that enhances cutting-edge capabilities and promotes ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in the defence domain, a Ministry of Defence (MoD) statement said on Wednesday.

The TDF programme is a flagship programme of the MoD, implemented by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. It is particularly targeted at start-ups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the MoD said.

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So far, 77 projects have been approved for various industries with a commitment of over Rs 300 crore. The MoD claims that 27 defence technologies have been successfully implemented under the programme.

Among the TDF success stories is Pune-based startup Combat Robotics, which has successfully developed an innovative unmanned vehicle simulator.

This multi-domain simulator supports Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), Unmanned Ground Vehicles (USVs) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). MoD says it is an excellent development tool for agencies working on developing autonomous systems.

The simulator provides comprehensive environment, scenario and vehicle modeling and intuitive control systems, with documentation for developers.

“It has been designed to address the requirements of testing and validating autonomous behaviour of unmanned vehicles across multiple domains. It has been developed under the auspices of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), a DRDO laboratory based in Bengaluru.”

Another success story cited by the MoD is that of Pune-based ChiStats Labs, which has developed virtual sensors to monitor the health of gas turbine engines.

ChiStats Labs Private Limited is a start-up working in the field of data science and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and the winner of the Dare to Dream 2.0 Innovation competition organized by DRDO.

“The project involves the development of a comprehensive diagnostic system for various parts of the gas turbine engine (AGTE), which will lead to increased operational reliability and extended engine life,” the Ministry of National Defence said.

Explaining the success, ChiStats Labs said, “The system builds on a stronger foundation of modern artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) technologies. It efficiently handles large-scale data and performs operational assessments quickly with a high degree of accuracy. The virtual sensor structure is developed locally.”

The Ministry of Defence states that “the technology has been successfully developed under the technical supervision and guidance of Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a Bengaluru-based DRDO laboratory that specialises in aerospace engines.”

MoD also cites the success of the “Tools for Data Assessment, Active Learning and Visual Data Trustworthiness”. This groundbreaking project aims to improve the validation and optimization of AI models for defense applications. It will facilitate collaboration between scientists through collaborative and repeatable experiments.

Among the companies mentioned was Bengaluru-based NewSpace Research and Technologies.

The Bengaluru-based startup, under a project titled ‘Autonomous Drone as First Responder for Search and Reporting Operations in Indoor/Close Environments’, has created a state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of exploring indoor environments in various conditions, including zero-light conditions.

The project focuses on developing indoor UAVs integrated with an autonomous navigation stack, an onboard object detection module, and a localization failover mechanism. The integration with the autonomous navigation stack includes 3D mapping, an exploration algorithm, and an AI/ML engine.

The success of these projects opens up opportunities for a variety of applications including search and rescue operations, surveillance, industrial inspection, environmental monitoring and exploration of hazardous environments.

DRDO claims that this has contributed significantly to technological advancement in unmanned aerial systems. The technology has been developed under the technical guidance and mentorship of CAIR, Bengaluru.

The objectives of the TDF programme include providing grants to Indian industries, including SMEs and start-ups. It supports the development of defence and dual-use technologies that are not currently available in the Indian defence industry.