Kalam’s leadership pivotal in developing Agni series of missiles, says Tessy Thomas

KOCHI

With almost all Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists having been moulded by former President and India’s ‘Missile Man’ A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the country is now in a position to export missiles, Tessy Thomas, renowned scientist and Director General of Aeronautical Systems at DRDO, has said.

Delivering the seventh Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Memorial Lecture organised by the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Friday, she went back in time and narrated how the steely resolve of Kalam resulted in the country developing the Agni-series of missiles, including the Agni-5 inter-continental ballistic missile that has a range of 5,000 km. It was achievable since he was willing to take risks, including adopting new technology.

Ms. Thomas spoke of how Kalam encouraged her and the 1,000-odd scientists at the DRDO and even knew most of them by name. He was a true leader and remained calm, even as panic and stress gripped the others when faced with initial setbacks during the launch of the Agni series of missiles. He went the extra mile and spent days analysing what went wrong. His interpretation of “FAIL” was “First Attempt In Learning”, she said.

Speaking of a time when she was designated as project director of Agni-4, she said she thought it would be an easy task since she was associated with Agni 1, 2 and 3. But it was a challenge for the dedicated team of young scientists to re-engineer the missile system. It was worth the effort, and a missile system having 4,000-km range was developed. “My 30-odd years of interactions with Kalam helped me learn much from him on taking on stress and overcoming failure,” she said.

Chamber president P.M. Veeramani spoke.