Army board brainstorms on upgrading tech

The seventeenth meeting of Army Technology Board (ATB) began on Wednesday and would conclude today at the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME) under the chairmanship of Lt Gen Sanjeev Madhok, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Army Training Command. A large number of projects based on cutting edge and niche technologies are being considered for development during the two-day meet.

The charter of the ATB is to act as a medium of exchange of knowledge and collaboration in the fields of technology with the academia and to identify, approve and fund technological research, studies and development projects. The vision of the ATB is that it should meet the immediate requirements of field formations with projects that have low gestation period and help to improve efficiency of the troops.

Lt Gen Sanjeev in his address mentioned, “The ATB aims to fast track projects based on state-of-the-art technologies so as to meet the immediate requirements of the Army. The project proposals include those for the development of new equipment, for upgrading the existing equipment and to indigenise costly equipment available in the world market.

Technologies are being developed in the field of enhancing individual soldier's survivability in harsh terrains and in the battlefield, improvement in situational awareness systems, day and night surveillance systems, and enhancing efficiency of existing equipment. In addition, development of state-of-the-art simulators for training, exploitation of micro UAVs and robotics are the other niche areas taken up for consideration.

The ATB is in sync with the ‘Make in India’ initiative, through research and development projects.” The board reviewed the progress on various ongoing projects and also considered some new proposals. The ATB meet was attended by 65 Army officers and directors and professors of various IITs.