Defence Laboratory has a lot in its kitty for armed forces

Jodhpur: It seems Defence Laboratory, Jodhpur has a lot in its kitty for offering to the defence forces. To begin with, a Cool Vest capable of keeping the wearer at a temperature up to 20 degrees Celsius less than the ambient or the surrounding temperature shall soon be available for the defence forces.
The prestigious product has been developed by Defence Laboratory, the Jodhpur-based laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).The Phase Change Material (PCM) based cool vest and caps are claimed to reduce heat stress of service personnel working in high temperature. PCM has also been developed in-house. Transfer of Technology (ToT) for this product to private industry is in pipeline while eight firms from various parts including those from Mumbai and Chennai have already been evaluated for ToT.
Dr S R Vadera, director, Defence Laboratory, Jodhpur, while sharing the aforementioned said that so far 200 such Cool Vests have been fabricated and the user trials with Air Force, Navy and BSF have already been completed with satisfactory results.
Trials with military hospital here are under progress. Working on the similar lines, a Warm Vest is also under development for high altitudes.
Flexi Life Saver Water Purifier in the form of a bottle is awaiting patent which was applied for in October 2015.
Capable of removing colour, odour, turbidity and microbial contaminations from surface water, the bottle can provide purified water to soldiers and civilians during operational movements and disaster. "25 of these prototypes are ready for user trials. While the capacity of this 'bottle purifier' is 500 ml, one cartridge can purify up to 4,000 litres of water," said Dr Vadera.
Defence Laboratory is also reportedly working on developing a huge facility wherein 'all weather' trials for various DRDO products can be carried out.
This small facility can recreate the prevailing dust, temperature and humidity conditions of the desert here for testing small equipment. A similar structure shall come up at National Level for testing bigger equipment. So far, more than 20 products developed by Defence Lab have witnessed 'Transfer of Technology' and an equal number have been patented.