Last week India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) officially opened a new chemical and biological sensor facility in Gwalior, approximately 263 miles north of Bhopal.
“It’s time to strengthen our capabilities in area of nuclear, chemical and biological warfare,” said Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to the Secretary of Defence R&D at DRDO.
The new facility, called the Defense Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), is designed to be India’s premier defense laboratory engaged in the development of state of the art technologies for chemical and biological defense.
Addressing the inauguration gathering, Dr. Saraswat said, “I congratulate the dedicated members of DRDE who have not only developed a wide range of NBC technologies but also translated them into products and taken them to users”.
He went on to say that in the future, conflicts are likely to be dominated by asymmetric warfare, low intensity conflicts and proxy wars; in which case chemical and biological agents as well as cyber warfare are potential threats.