CUMI Signs MoU with DRDO’s RCI Laboratory for Ceramic Radome Technology

Since missiles undergo extremely high surface temperatures while traveling through the atmosphere, ceramic is considered as the optimal radome material. The design of ceramic radomes for defence activities requires deep expertise and stringent testing at every stage to ensure reliability and accuracy.

March 2023: Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI), a part of the 120-year-old Murugappa Group, has recently announced that it has signed a Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology (LAToT) with DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI) Laboratory for technology to manufacture “Ceramic Radomes (GELCAST Process) Technology” used in missile systems. The LAToT was handed over at Aero India 2023 in Bengaluru on 15 February 2023 in the presence of Honourable Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Ceramic Radome Technology is considered state of the art missile technology world-over. Since missiles undergo extremely high surface temperatures while traveling through the atmosphere, ceramic is considered as the optimal radome material. The design of ceramic radomes for defence activities requires deep expertise and stringent testing at every stage to ensure reliability and accuracy.

Research Centre Imarat (RCI) is a premier laboratory of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex, DRDO spearheading R&D in a wide range of Avionics Systems for diversified defence and aerospace applications.

“It has been exciting to witness India’s growing prowess in the defence manufacturing sector, which is a major goal of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ or ‘Make in India’ initiative. With our strong legacy of being in the material sciences industry for almost 70 years, CUMI is honoured to play a part in shaping India’s destiny by contributing to a strong and self-reliant defence sector. Our operations are completely made in India - from mineral sourcing and processing to research and testing, CUMI is completely localized with 100 percent end-to-end integration in the country,” said Subbu Venkatachalam, Head of Marketing, Carborundum Universal Limited. “We are grateful to the team at DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat Laboratory for the opportunity and look forward to a continued association.”

CUMI’s focus for the Aerospace and Defence industry has been on making a material difference to safety and protection for man and machine across terrains. CUMI ceramics design, manufacture and test for the highest standards of reliability and safety for critical situations in defence, and CUMI engineers have the acumen and ability to design and manufacture customized solutions to cater for special defence needs. CUMI’s lightweight ceramic ballistic solutions engineered with Alumina, Zirconia-Toughened Alumina and Silicon Carbide, are ergonomic and customisable into various sizes and shapes for use in bulletproof vests. CUMI’s high-performance lightweight ceramic materials enable the highest levels of ballistic and blast-proof protection for armoured vehicles. In addition, CUMI is one of the first companies to produce the ‘wonder material’ graphene for aerospace & defence applications in India. CUMI also brings cutting-edge composite technology for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) including CFRP tubes, panels, and customized composite structural parts for drones.

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