Here I would like to quote Sir C.V. Raman, who said in 1969 while addressing young graduates, ‘I would like to tell the young men and women before me not to lose hope and courage. Success can only come to you by courageous devotion to the task lying in front of you. I can assert without fear of contradiction that the quality of the Indian mind is equal to the quality of any Teutonic, Nordic or Anglo-Saxon mind. What we lack is perhaps courage, what we lack is perhaps driving force, which takes one anywhere. We have, I think, developed an inferiority complex. I think what is needed in India today is the destruction of that defeatist spirit. We need a spirit of victory, a spirit that will carry us to our rightful place under the sun, a spirit which can recognize that we, as inheritors of a proud civilization, are entitled to our rightful place on this planet. If that indomitable spirit were to arise nothing can hold us from achieving our rightful destiny.’
Further afield, there was similarly the emergence of others who were great in their respective fields. Interestingly, a music trinity of great saints, Thiagaraja Swamigal, Muthuswamy Deekshidar and Shyama Sastrigal, also emerged at the same time in south India within a 50-km radius. What we should note is that the movement for independence generated the best of leaders in arts, science, technology, economics, history and literature who stand with the best in the world.
In more recent times too we have seen the emergence of great visionary scientists. Particularly, I was interested in the lives of three scientists–Dr D.S. Kothari, Dr Homi J. Bhabha and Dr Vikram Sarabhai. I wanted to learn more about their leadership qualities in the scientific and technological fields which helped link these to the development of the nation. They are the founders of three great institutions–DRDO, DAE, ISRO.
Dr D.S. Kothari, a professor at Delhi University, was an outstanding physicist and astrophysicist. He is well known for ionization of matter by pressure in cold compact objects like planets. This theory is complementary to the epoch-making theory of thermal ionization of his guru, Dr Meghnad Saha. Dr D.S. Kothari set a scientific tradition in Indian defence tasks when he became Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister in 1948. The first thing he did was to establish the Defence Science Centre to do research in electronic materials, nuclear medicine and ballistic science. He is considered the architect of defence science in India. We are celebrating this great mind through a research chair at the Indian Institute of Science.
Dr Bhabha did research in theoretical physics at Cambridge University. From 1930 to 1939, Homi Bhabha carried out research relating to cosmic radiation. In 1939, he joined Sir C.V. Raman at IISc, Bangalore. Later, he founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research with focus on nuclear and mathematical sciences. He established the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948. His vision led to the setting up of numerous centres in the field of nuclear science and technology, such as those for producing nuclear power, or for research in nuclear medicine. These science institutions generated further technological centres keeping nuclear science as the vital component.
Dr Sarabhai, the youngest of the three, had worked with Sir C.V. Raman in experimental cosmic rays. He established the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad with space research as the focus. In 1963, Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) began launching sounding rockets for atmospheric research. Dr Sarabhai established the Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC) and was its director. His vision led to the establishment of ISRO with its allied centres responsible for development of launch vehicles, satellites, mission management and applications.
These three Indian scientists, all of them physicists, started physics research institutions that blossomed into defence technology, nuclear technology and space technology, which now employ 20,000 scientists in centres spread around the country. One thing I noted was that all three realized the importance of making the political leadership understand what science could do for the country. It is essential that technologies that give immediate benefits to the people be taken up for implementation by the system regardless of which party is in power. Another important message conveyed by these scientists is that basic science is vital for growth of technology and for developing new leaders in science. Let us learn from them the proven qualities of leadership to value science and technology in an integrated way.
In 1962, Dr Sarabhai and Dr Bhabha were looking for a site to establish the space research station in the equatorial region. Thumba in Kerala was found most suitable as it was near the equatorial region and was ideally suited for ionospheric research. The locality, however, was inhabited by thousands of fishermen living in the villages there. It also had a beautiful church called St Mary Magdalene Church and the Bishop’s house. As such, the acquisition of the land did not move any further.
Dr Sarabhai met the Bishop, His Excellency Rev. Dr Peter Bernard Pereira, on a Saturday and requested transfer of the property. The Bishop smiled and asked him to meet him the next day. In the Sunday morning service, the Bishop told the congregation, ‘My children, I have a famous scientist with me who wants our church and the place I live for the work of space science and research. Science seeks truth that enriches human life. The higher level of religion is spirituality. The spiritual preachers seek the help of the Almighty to bring peace to human minds. In short, what Vikram is doing and what I am doing are the same– both science and spirituality seek the Almighty’s blessings for human prosperity in mind and body. Children, can we give them God’s abode for a scientific mission?’ There was silence for a while followed by a hearty ‘Amen’ from the congregation which made the whole church reverberate.
It was indeed a great experience working with Dr Sarabhai from 1963 to 1971. As a young engineer engaged in the tasks of composite technology, explosive systems and rocket engineering systems at the Thiruvananthapuram space centre I drew tremendous energy from his leadership. Though the nation was in its technological infancy, Dr Sarabhai was dreaming of developing our own satellite launch vehicles. These would be used to launch from Indian soil remote sensing satellites in sun- synchronous orbit and communication satellites in geosynchronous orbit. Today, his vision is almost realized with the launch of the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV). ISRO has also operationalized the IRS and INSAT systems, thereby bringing the benefits of space to the common man.
There is an experience I would like to share with you in relation to Dr Sarabhai’s vision for space programmes. I wrote briefly in Wings of Fire about this episode. The design project of India’s first satellite launch vehicle (SLV-3) was taken up at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). The design of each stage of rocket, heat shield and guidance system was given to selected project leaders. I was given the design project of the fourth stage of SLV-3, that is, the upper stage rocket, which would give the final velocity to put Rohini into orbit. This fourth stage uses an advanced composite material that provides high strength with minimum weight. It also has maximum loading of high energy solid propellant. While we were developing the design of this upper stage in 1970, I received a call from Dr Sarabhai from Ahmedabad stating that he would be visiting Thiruvananthapuram along with Prof. Hubert Curien, chairman of CNES, the French space agency. I was asked to give a presentation about the fourth stage to Prof. Curien’s team. When the presentation was over, we realized that the SLV-3 fourth stage was also being considered as upper stage for the French Diamont P-4 launch vehicle. The CNES needed an apogee rocket motor nearly double the propellant weight and also size of the stage that we had designed.
A decision was then taken in the same meeting that the fourth stage should be reconfigured to match and suit both Diamont P-4 and SLV-3. I mention this episode because at the time this decision was taken, we ourselves were in the design stage! Such was Dr Sarabhai’s confidence in the Indian scientific community. Development work on this stage started ahead of the other stages of SLV-3. With our motivation thus boosted, work proceeded in full swing. A series of reviews took place between the two teams and the fourth stage graduated from drawing board to developing stage. U
nfortunately in 1971, Dr Sarabhai passed away, and at the same time the French government called off the Diamont P-4 programme.
Once the fourth stage was developed and a series of tests was going on, a new requirement appeared on the horizon, in the form of India building a small communication satellite to be launched by the European Ariane launch vehicle. For the APPLE–Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment–communication satellite, the SLV-3 fourth stage proved a perfect fit and it was included in the payload of the Ariane launch in 1981 from Kourou, French Guiana. The vision seeded in 1970 by Dr Vikram Sarabhai was indeed realized when APPLE was placed in geostationary orbit and started communicating with our earth stations. APPLE’s success proved that a vision with committed scientific support will achieve its aim. This achievement came as a fantastic fillip to the rocket technologists in the country. The visionary may not be with us today but his vision gets realized.
The dream of Dr Sarabhai was shaped into reality by Prof. Satish Dhawan. After he took charge of ISRO from 1972, Prof. Dhawan structured and nurtured ISRO with a space profile and his work led to many significant accomplishments and benefits from a number of remote sensing and communication satellites. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle accomplished the feat of launching multiple satellites for India and other countries, injecting them in different orbits in a single mission.
I learned an important lesson in management from Prof. Dhawan when I was appointed Project Director SLV-3 in 1972 to design, develop and launch the first satellite launch vehicle to inject Rohini into near earth orbit. This was that when a Project Director is appointed, the whole organization–including the Chairman ISRO–works for his success. It is a lesson that has been of abiding value all through the other projects I have worked on. The other thing I have learnt after more than forty years of working in three departments in various projects and programmes is that you will succeed as a project leader as long as you remember that the project is bigger than you. Wherever the project leader tries to make himself out to be bigger than the project, the enterprise suffers.
I recall my working at ISRO Headquarters, Bangalore, as Director, Launch Vehicle Programmes/Systems, in the early 1980s, when we were debating the performance and cost-effectiveness of launch vehicles. In 1981, the scientists of VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram, with the help of other ISRO centres, evolved a configuration of the PSLV core vehicle with two large strap-on boosters. The PSLV weighed about 400 tonnes at take-off. Prof. Dhawan wanted to study an alternative and simple configuration. I and some of my colleagues, A. Sivathanu Pillai, N. Sundararajan and K. Padmanabha Menon, carried out mission, technology and feasibility studies for the optimal configuration. The team designed several options, including a unique core vehicle with an advanced solid propellant booster, using first stage rockets of SLV-3 as strap- ons. This brought the PSLV weight down to only about 275 tonnes at take-off. Prof. Dhawan used to come almost daily to my small room, which was close to his office, and debate the possible configuration choice. He was himself a foremost aerodynamic specialist with mathematics and system engineering background, and would illustrate his ideas on the blackboard and ask us to do more homework. We also studied the growth opportunities of PSLV with cryogenic upper stage as a GSLV and the possibility of launching due-east geosynchronous missions. Prof. Dhawan put the two most favoured configurations up for discussion among the experts and the ISRO teams. Detailed examination and debate, taking the long- term plans into account, took place and they chose the PSLV configuration as proposed by my launch vehicle team. Prof. Dhawan considered the future scenario of operationalization of PSLV and GSLV, bearing in mind the satellites and application programmes, and decided on this unique configuration and evolved the roadmap for ISRO for the next fifteen years. I and Prof. Narasimha brought out a book, Development in Fluid Mechanics and Space Technology, with Prof. Dhawan’s handwritten fifteen-year space profile, based on the chosen PSLV configuration.
A memorable day for me is 31 May 1982. Prof. Dhawan gave me a send-off in an unconventional way. He called an ISRO council meeting to discuss the future launch vehicle programme. I made a presentation to the directors of the ISRO centres on performance and cost-effectiveness of our launch vehicles and the growth profile. After the presentation, Prof. Dhawan broke the news that he had given me to DRDO. This decision indeed gave me a change that led to progress in a different field.
We see today self-reliance in launch vehicle technology with PSLV operational and GSLV getting ready to be operationalized. This is close to the direction envisaged in the early 1980s by Prof. Dhawan. The recognition of ISRO as a successful organization was due to the strong foundation and space profile envisioned by him. One test of leadership is also how well successors are able to carry forward a programme. At ISRO, Prof. U.R. Rao and Dr K. Kasturirangan brought further success and glory to the organization. After his retirement Prof. Dhawan continued as a member of the Space Commission and in that capacity continued to help the organization which he built. Remarkably, Prof. Dhawan saw the space missions envisioned by him come into being in his lifetime. He also saw in his lifetime many of those he had tutored emerge as strong technology leaders themselves who have contributed immeasurably to the country. What a great personality he was!
After joining the DRDO, I started the missile development programme there. During the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), the focus was to design missiles with state-of-theart performance at the time of deployment. The surface-to-surface missile Prithvi became the best in its class and users’ delight with its high accuracy, reliable performance and the manoeuvrable trajectories. The first stage of SLV-3 became handy to configure Agni as a long-range deterrent. It blossomed from the REX (Re-Entry eXperiment) programme conceived by my team in 1981. Both Prithvi and Agni are in production and induction phase. Trishul, which is a surface-to-air missile, and Akash, once development is complete, will be contemporary missiles. The third generation anti-tank Nag will dominate as one of the best such missiles. In any aerospace or missile development programme, delays are possible owing to the technical complexity of the work. But this should not deter us. The propaganda of foreign sellers and their associates in India should not dictate India’s procurement decisions. My experience in dealing with the network of institutions that has been established is that our country has tremendous potential to develop the best technologies in this field. India could combat the MTCR very effectively, thereby proving to those who wanted us to fail that ‘we can do it’.
Once we had developed competence in the design of missile systems I looked beyond the IGMDP. The natural course of action appeared to be the supersonic cruise missile, which is essential in tactical warfare. Many countries have cruise missiles, but they fly at subsonic speed. Our association with one of the Russian institutes, NPO Mashinostroyenia, developed into a partnership in the joint design and development of supersonic cruise missile system. This partnership is based upon friendship and equal competencies.
I recall my association with Dr H.A. Yefremov, Director General of NPO Mashinostroyenia, an outstanding scientist of our time, who had developed seven types of cruise missiles and inducted the systems in the Russian Navy. Creating a joint venture between India and Russia in high-technology projects in the prevailing situation in the 1990s became a complex question and a challenge to both Dr Yefremov and me. Whenever I met Dr Yefremov, I got the feeling of meeting a great scientist like Prof. Satish Dhawan or Dr Werner Von Braun, the father of rocketry. Dr Yefremov took me to his technology centres which are not normally shown to any foreigner. He truly treated me as a friend and arranged an Indian lunch in his laboratory. I took him to the Research Centre Imarat, an advanced missile technology centre at Hyderabad. He was genuinely pleased to see the strides we had made. Our scientific minds merged and our friendship blossomed. We christened the joint venture as BrahMos, a combination of the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Moscow. Sivathanu Pillai, Ramanathan, Venugopalan and Vice-Admiral Bharat Bhushan,
along with the Russian specialists, gave shape to the joint venture. Sivathanu Pillai was the natural choice as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the joint venture, concurrently holding charge in DRDO as Chief Controller R&D for missiles. The dual role, an exceptional decision of the government, was essential to ensure the success of this venture. Venugopalan, an outstanding propulsion scientist from the Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL), became the Project Director. A new kind of joint venture came into existence, one which bridged the scientific community and industry of the two countries in design, development, production and marketing of an advanced technology weapon. It was a source of great joy for me, as it was for the two teams. The first flight of BrahMos on 12 June 2001 from the Interim Test Range, Chandipur, was a milestone signalling the progress of the joint venture. The second flight, on 28 April 2002, confirmed the results of the first and came as a great encouragement to our effort.
Dr Yefremov and I are glad that both India and Russia have realized that this joint venture is the right way to bridge two friendly nations for building high-technology weapon systems that could enter the world market My dream of marketing an advanced weapon system ahead of the so-called developed countries will come true through BrahMos, even though I am away from the scene. The team that I built has performed creditably. I am happy.