515 Army Base Workshop in Bengaluru received General Dhiraj Seth, Chief of the Army Staff, who reviewed its work in advanced manufacturing, indigenous drone development and emerging technologies, including additive manufacturing, quantum and space technologies.

The Army Chief appreciated the efforts being made to improve equipment availability and operational readiness through indigenous innovation, according to the Indian Army.

He also held an interaction with representatives of industry and academia.

General Dhiraj Seth calls for joint research with industry and academia

At the interaction, General Dhiraj Seth emphasised collaborative research and development, technology absorption and Aatmanirbharta. The aim, the Army said, is to speed up capability development and build a self-reliant and future-ready force. The Army linked the visit to VIJAY, the five priorities the Chief set out on his first day in office. VIJAY stands for vigilance, innovation, jointness, Aatmanirbharta and Yoddha First, and the VIJAY framework has featured in his formation reviews since July.

The visit was also tied to two Army themes, the Year of Networking and Data Centricity and the Decade of Transformation.

515 Army Base Workshop makes spares, simulators and drones

The 515 Army Base Workshop is one of eight such workshops in the country. They come under the Base Workshop Group, which works under the Directorate General of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers. The Army first set up these workshops during the Second World War to repair and overhaul weapons, vehicles and equipment.

The Bengaluru unit has three main jobs, according to the Army: indigenous manufacture of spares, manufacture of simulators for the field army, and overhaul of aviation rotables. Its simulators include anti-tank guided missile trainers and infantry weapon training systems.

Two Bengaluru startups joined its drone work in March

In March, the workshop signed three memoranda of understanding to build up in-house drone manufacturing. One is with Nautical Wings Aerospace, a Bengaluru startup that works on electric propulsion and vertical lift systems for unmanned aircraft. Another is with Yaanendriya Private Limited, a deep-tech firm incubated at ARTPARK, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

Drone work at the workshop is not new. It was testing spares for unmanned aerial vehicles as far back as 2002, according to reports at the time.

3D printing facility at the workshop opened in April

General Upendra Dwivedi, the previous Army Chief, commissioned an additive manufacturing facility at the workshop in April, according to reports at the time. Additive manufacturing, better known as 3D printing, builds a part layer by layer from a digital design. The facility includes 3D scanning to create precise digital models of parts, and it can produce metal components for vehicles and weapon systems.

For the Army, the main use is spares. A part that can be scanned and printed inside the workshop does not have to wait on an outside supply chain.

Army Chief has backed 3D printing since his Southern Command tenure

The subject is a familiar one for General Dhiraj Seth. As General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, then Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth delivered the keynote address at a seminar in Pune on additive manufacturing for the sustenance of combat-critical equipment. During the same tenure he visited the 512 Army Base Workshop in Pune, where he reviewed its Centre of Excellence for Rubber Technology and watched a pilot overhaul of an armoured recovery vehicle.

He took over as the 31st Chief of the Army Staff on 30 June. In August, he returned to Pune to review Southern Command's operational preparedness.