IIT-Delhi and DRDO are working together to bring better defence technology to the Indian military

The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) is working with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop technology for defence purposes.

In its report, The Economic Times has listed out some of the projects being worked on at IIT-D, and these include blast-resistant materials, ballistic helmets and more.

The ET report describes a blast-resistant material that IIT-D is working on. It’s called aluminium cenosphere syntactic foam and is designed to be placed on structures to protect them from damage when there is a bomb blast.

Think of it as regular foam, but more sturdier, since it incorporates metals and other elements. The IIT-D design will apparently absorb around 80 percent of the blast impact.

A gas gun capable of firing projectiles with a pressure of 120 psi is being used to test the materials.

Another project being worked on is a ballistic helmet made up of materials including ceramic and foam. The helmet is being designed to stop bullets and other high-velocity objects while maintaining its “back face signature”. This means that the inside of the helmet won’t deform under impact.

Yet another project involves Underwater Unmanned Vehicles (UUV), which are essentially underwater drones. These UUVs include cameras and other sensors on the device so a controller can observe its actions.

Other projects include the aerostat, which is a kind of airship that can be used for surveillance, a textile that includes an antenna and sensors to assist in communication and the detection of poisonous gas and finally, terahertz technology which can detect explosives inside a human body or a liquid. That last has a range of up to 50 m.