Hyderabad: Defence minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday dedicated a 50 tonne Rocket Motor Test Facility at BDL’s Ibrahimpatnam Complex and dedicated it to the nation.
The Rs 48 crore state-of-the-art unit is the first of its kind for a defence production unit. The facility for surface-to-air missiles will support design and vendor development activities.
The test bed can withstand a load of 50,000 kg and explosive limit of 1,000 kg.
During his whirlwind visit to the state, Mr Jaitley participated in development programmes at BDL, Midhani and Ordnance Factory in Medak.
He held the ground breaking ceremony for Phase-2 construction of facilities at Bharat Dynamics Limited, Ibrahimpatnam. The BDL has acquired 632 acres from the state government to establish manufacturing, testing and storage facilities for medium range and quick reaction surface to air missiles.
He also inaugurated the production of the Astra weapon system, an indigenously developed air-to-air Beyond Visual Range missile developed by DRDO, with a range of 110 km at Bhanur. He also inaugurated a 5-MW solar photovoltaic power project at the BDL Bhanur unit.
At Midhani, he dedicated Phase-1 modernisation to the nation and performed ground breaking ceremony for Phase-2. Earlier, he visited the Ordnance Factory, Medak, where he flagged off first bar-coded Infantry Combat Vehicle BMP-11.
