Samir V Kamat appointed as New DRDO Chairman

Highlights:

• Sameer V Kamat, Director General, Naval Systems and Materials Division of DRDO, was recently appointed as the new Chairman of DRDO.
• Kamat will continue in this post till the age of 60 years or till further orders.
• The same, the current secretary G. Satheesh Reddy was appointed Scientific Advisor to the Defense Minister.
• Sameer V Kamat full name is Dr Sameer Venkatapathy Kamat.
• He earned a B.Tech Engineering (Hons) degree in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1985.
• He joined DRDO in 1989. In 2015, he took over as the Lab Director.
• In 2017, he was made the director of NS&M.
• Presently, he is serving as the Director General of Naval Systems and Materials Division of DRDO.
• Recently, DRDO successfully flight tested Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from the Integrated Test Range Chandipur, Odisha.
• Before this launch, DRDO also conducted launch of Iskander-M missile system and Test-Fire of Prithvi-II missile.

DRDO:A Fact File

• DRDO is a premier agency, working under Department of Defence Research and Development of Ministry of Defence.
• It is charged with military’s research and development.
• The agency is headquartered in Delhi. 
• It was established in 1958.
• In 1979, Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS) was set up as a service of Group ‘A’ Officers / Scientists.
• DRDO has a network of 52 laboratories.
• These laboratories are engaged in developing defence technologies covering fields such as aeronautics, electronics, armaments, life sciences, land combat engineering, naval systems, materials and missiles.
• DRDO is the largest and most diverse research organisation in India.
• It comprises of about 5,000 scientists belonging to the DRDS and around 25,000 other subordinate scientific, technical and supporting personnel.
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