New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS): The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday said that the DRDO has developed the indigenous Advanced Ballistics for High Energy Defeat (ABHED) bulletproof jackets.

The ministry said the jackets have been developed at the DRDO Industry Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) at IIT, Delhi.

“This is an indigenous product and the jackets have been created from polymers and indigenous boron carbide ceramic material. The design configuration is based on characterisation of various materials at high strain rate followed by appropriate modelling and simulation in collaboration with DRDO,” the ministry said.

It added that the armour plates for the jackets have passed all necessary research and development (R&D) trials as per the protocols.

“The jackets meet the highest threat level and are lighter than the maximum weight limits stipulated in respective General Staff Qualitative Requirement of the Indian Army. With a minimum possible weight of 8.2 kgs and 9.5 kgs for different BIS Levels, these modular-design jackets having front and rear armours provide 360-degree protection,” the ministry said.

It added that based on the selection-criteria matrix, some Indian industries were shortlisted for the Transfer of Technology and handholding.

“The government is ready to transfer the technology to three industries,” the ministry informed.

Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Samir V Kamat said that the lightweight bulletproof jacket exemplifies the effective ecosystem of successful defence R&D by DRDO, academia and the industry.

The DIA-CoE was formed by modifying the Joint Advanced Technology Center of DRDO at IIT Delhi in 2022 to involve Industry and Academia in defence R&D. It has been actively pursuing various projects on advanced technologies, involving DRDO scientists, academic researchers and industry partners, official added.