Research Centre Imarat (RCI)

Introduction
Research Centre Imarat has been established in a sprawling campus of 2100 acres, in
Hyderabad. Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabhudin Abdul Kalam is the founder Director of
Research Centre Imarat (RCI). The former Prime Minister Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi laid
the foundation stone of Research Centre Imarat on 3rd August 1985 and was
inaugurated by the former President of India, His Excellency, Shri R. Venkataraman
on 27th August 1988. The area has been named as ‘VIGNYANA KANCHA’.
Research Centre Imarat, the premier institution of Defence Research & Development
Organisation (DRDO) has been established to design and develop world class, state-
of-the-art technologies which will produce precise and reliable indigenous weapon
systems to strengthen country’s Armed Forces. RCI is pursuing research on
Navigation, Control & Guidance, Imaging Infrared & Radio Frequency seekers,
batteries and flight instrumentation technology areas. The other technology areas
include Electrical and Mechanical Integration of systems and Reliability and Quality
Assurance. RCI has also set up Environmental and EMI/EMC test facilities for
Qualification and Acceptance testing of the mechanical and electrical airborne
hardware.

Vision
To be the leader in the development of guided Missile Systems for our Armed Forces
by developing the frontier Technologies, multi-disciplinary competence and state-of-
the-art infrastructure leading to self-reliance.

Mission
class (A1, A2, A3). AGNI I & AGNI II have completed the development flights and are being
inducted in the Services. The long range AGNI III is under development and the hardware is
Be a premier institute for developing Frontier Technologies in collaboration with
Academic Institutions & industry. Foster Human Resources for professional
Excellence, organise for the induction and production of the guided missile systems on
to the Armed forces.

Areas Of Work
Research Centre Imarat ( RCI ) is a centre of Technological excellence in guided
missile systems and variety of frontier technologies as follows:
(i) Missile System Engineering and Simulation, (ii) Control Systems, (iii) Guidance
Systems, (iv) Seekers, (v) Navigation and Inertial Sensors, (vi) Missile Integration,
(vii) Flight Instrumentation, (viii) Environmental Testing and Evaluation, (ix) Power
supplies, (x) Micro-electronics, (xi) Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems ( MEMS ),
(xii) Reliability and Quality Assurance, (xii) Digital Simulation, (xiii) Hardware-
In loop-Simulation ( HILS ) for tactical Missiles like, Surface to Air Missiles - Akash
and Trishul, Air to air Missiles - Astra.
Technologies
Imaging infrared seeker technology
Short range homing guidance systems, visible CCD seeker, IIR seeker, Image
processing system for scene matching techniques, missile interface electronics and
signal processing techniques.

Visible seeker
(i) Day seeker for anti tank missile guidance application featuring CCD sensor, servo
stabilization system / real time image processor and (ii) Anti-tank missile applications.
IIR Seeker (Imaging Infrared seeker for antitank missile applications)
(i) Image processing algorithms and associated software & (ii) Optics with focus
control.

MMW seeker
(i) Seeker with coherent transmitter receiver, (ii) Direct drive linkage based servo
stabilization, (iii) Trans twist monopulse antenna and (iv) Signal processor.

Launcher based missile interface electronics

(i) State-of-the-art Processor with Missile Carrier NAMICA ( NAG Launcher),
(ii)Handing over electronics, (iii) Ground Control Unit and (iv) Missile Control Unit

R.F. guidance systems

RF guidance subsystems and antennas for missile borne and ground applications :
Command guidance system : (i) Transponder, (ii) Command link system, (iii) Twin
antenna switching and (iv) Hybrid MIC

Antenna systems
(i) Cassegrain Reflector Monopulse Antenna System, (ii) Monopulse corrugated horn
and (iii) Light weight trans-twist monopulse antenna system.
Calibrated test and measurement facility
(i) Antenna and radome evaluation, (ii) Radar reflectivity measurement and (iii)
Microwave absorbers evaluation.
Inertial navigation systems (high precision)
(i)Dry Tuned Gas based strap down inertial navigation system for short and medium
range tactical missile system, (ii) DTG / Laser based system, embedded computers,
navigation algorithm and GPS-Inertial Navigation System, (iii) Quick reaction inertial
navigation, (iv) Transfer alignment schemes and (v)GPS aided navigation.

On board computers
(i) Real time embedded computers for aerospace application carrying out navigation,
Guidance, Control and Mission sequence functions withstanding dynamic, climatic and
EMI environments; Onboard computers with distributed system architecture using
MIL-STD1553B bus which carries out Navigation, Control and Guidance functions;
Real time embedded computer for IMU carrying out alignment and navigation
function; Missile Interface Unit (MIU) using 16 Bit Micro Controller and Real time
PC based test beds for hardware and software.
Control systems
Control systems for control of tactical missiles in pitch, yaw and roll planes by
incorporating autopilot, servo controller, actuation systems and software.

Autopilot
Analog and digital autopilots for Quick Reaction missiles; Control and Guidance
computer for sensor inputs and actuator commands and Guidance algorithm for the
missile systems.

Control actuation systems

Electro Hydraulic Actuation Systems: Electro Hydraulic Actuation Systems for
aerodynamic, thrust vector, fin tip

Electro Pneumatic Actuation System: Low weight, medium power blow down Electro
Pneumatic Actuation Systems for Surface to Air Missiles.

Flight instrumentation -tele-command and telemetry systems

PCM Telemetry System; 1553 based ASIC PCM encoder; Digital Telecommand
System; C Band Transponder; S-Band Transmitter ( MMIC ); CDMA data link;
Conformal Antenna System; S-Band Transponder

Power supplies

Power supplies for missile systems; Test facilities for batteries, NDT method to find
out state of charge, Electroless plating technique for Copper plating on Non-Conductor,
HR-5 Silver Oxide Zinc rechargeable battery; Primary Battery - Silver Oxide – Zinc
Battery; Secondary
Battery - Nickel – Metal Hydride Battery and Thermal Battery - Lithium thermal
Battery
Environmental test facilities
Environmental test facilities for conducting specialized environmental tests and Vibro
acoustic studies for meeting the stringent requirements of all missile and ground
systems as per MIL and JSS.
Dynamic Test Facilities to test Tactical and other missiles : Shock; Centrifuge;
Vibration – Sine, Random and sine on random; Bump; Acoustic noise
Multipoint Excitation Testing for Modal Analysis : Multi shaker; 32 channel data;
Laser Vibrometer
Launcher Vibration characterization, Acoustic and Vibration Data Measurement
during launch and analysis.
Packaging for PCB’s and Electronic Sub-Systems : Static analysis, Dynamic analysis,
Thermal analysis, Chassis design and Isolators

Vibro Acoustics : Estimation technique for turbulent boundary layer noise and jet
noise; Vibration response estimation using Statistical Energy Analysis(SEA)
technique and correlation with experiments.

Pyro Shock testing, measurement and analysis:16 channel,

High frequency recording.
Environmental chambers ( Small and Large Chambers ) : High Altitude Simulation,
Rain and Icing simulation, Humidity and damp heat, Salt corrosion, Extremes of
temperature ( low & high), Combined environments & Tropical exposure
Kinetic Heating : Thermal and static loading, Multi channel strain and temperature and
IR lamps and reflector assemblies. 2.2.5.16 EMI / EMC testing technology
Test facilities to evaluate the performance of the missile sub-systems and ground
systems against operating EMI environment as per MIL-STD 461C. EMI hardening
technology.
Modular shielded enclosure
Automatic EMI data collection system
Automatic EMI susceptibility measurement system
Radiated susceptibility
Electronic static discharge system
2.10 Hardware-In-Loop-Simulation
HILS test beds for design, development and validation of different classes of tactical
missiles
Strap down Inertial Guidance System for all missiles with sensors, actuators and
embedded software including flight systems.
Rapid prototyping of onboard and ground systems including interfaces like 1553,
ARINC, VME and SCRAMNet.
Test beds including seeker hardware ( CCD / IR / RF ).

Modularized PC based test beds.

Test beds with state-of-the-art computers, motion simulators and application software
and tools.

Simulations with van and ship to bring more realistic situation in HILS.

Capability to find deficiencies in model, onboard hardware and embedded software.

Projects - Prithvi & its variants :

Prithvi is a Surface-to-Surface Battle field Missile. It uses a single state, twin-engine

liquid propulsion system and strap-down inertial guidance with real-time software
incorporated in the onboard computer to achieve the desired accuracy during impact.
Prithvi has higher lethal effect compared to any equivalent class of missiles in the
world. Prithvi is a unique missile today having maneuverable trajectory and high level
capability with field interchangeable warheads. Its accuracy has been demonstrated in
the development flight trials. Flight trails for Air force version has been completed.
This system has also been configured for launching from ship, increasing its capability
as a sea mobile system.

(i) It is a tactical surface to surface missile for field support

(ii) Air force version (Prithvi II) developed for deep interdiction
(iii) Naval version (Dhanush) can be launched from ships. Stabilization
platform designed for ships enables launching of missile even during sea state
4 Features of stabilization platform :
- Stabilization controller interfaced with launch computer
- Launch stabilization achieved +/- 1o

Missile range and payload: Range Payload

Army version: 40 to 150 km 1000 kg
 Air force version: 250 km 500 kg
Navy version: 250 km 500 kg

Human Resource Development Group

The Human Resource Development Group in RCI has taken the following initiatives
for Human Resource Development :
- Conducting In-house Continuing Education Programmes for Scientists & Officers, -
In-house Structural Training Programmes in Core Areas for Scientist’B’s for eight
weeks duration and for Scientist’C’s & Scientist’D’s for two weeks duration,
- Introduced Mentoring System,
- Conducting National & International Conferences & Workshops,
- Nominating employees to External Institute/IT Sectors for training in identified
areas, - Nominating Scientists and Officers to International Conferences/Workshops
at foreign countries in the areas for which training scope in India does not exist,
- Scientists and Officers are encouraged to present and publish papers at National
Conferences/Seminars/Journals,
- The information about various training programmes is put in RCI Intranet,
- The Papers presented and published by Scientists & Officers are being put in RCI
Intranet, - Facilities are provided to sponsored Scientists of DRDO for M.Tech.
Project Work, - Establishing Zonal Training Centre to train the personnel of
Hyderabad Zone.

The Head Human Resource Development (HRD) Group in RCI is a full time Scientist,
looking after only HRD activities.