Dr P Srihari appointed Director of RCI, DRDO Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Sept 15 (TNT): Dr P Srihari, Outstanding Scientist, has been appointed Director of the Research Centre Imarat (RCI), DRDO, Hyderabad and assumed charge on Tuesday.

Srihari holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Nagarjuna University, a Master of Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, and a PhD from Osmania University, Hyderabad, a Defence release said here.

He joined DRDO as Scientist ‘B’ in October 1992 through the Mechanical Engineering Fellowship Course and began his career at the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), Bengaluru.

He initially worked on the Multi-Mode Radar (MMR) for the LCA programme and was involved in the development of multilayer slotted array antennas.

He later worked on the Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR) programme and was involved in the development of the Kolar Radar Range.

Srihari moved to DRDL, Hyderabad, in December 2003 and worked in the Liquid Propulsion Division.

He designed and developed the Divert and Attitude Control System (DACS) for interceptor missiles under the Ballistic Missile Defence programme.

The Cold Gas Reaction Control System developed by him was also used in target missiles for interceptor trials.

In 2015, he joined Programme AD and worked on the PDV and AD-II interceptor missiles.

He was a core group member involved in the Anti-Satellite (ASAT) programme, which successfully intercepted a Low Earth Orbit satellite in March 2019.

He was appointed Project Director of the MRSAM (IAF) project in 2019, a joint development programme of DRDO and IAI.

Under his leadership, the first firing unit was inducted into the Indian Air Force in October 2021.

Srihari was appointed Project Director of Programme AD in August 2021 and elevated as Programme Director of the Ballistic Missile Defence programme in 2022.

He has received the Agni Award for Excellence in Self-Reliance, DRDO Award for Path Breaking Research and Scientist of the Year Award for his contributions.

Srihari is Honorary Secretary of the Hyderabad chapter of the Aeronautical Society of India and is a member of the High Energy Materials Society of India, Indian National Society for Aerospace and Related Mechanisms and Society of Automotive Engineers.

He has published more than 10 research papers in national and international journals in the field of missile systems.

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