Indian Defense Industry General News and Updates

HAL, Wipro ink pact for 3D printing in aerospace

By Chethan Kumar| TNN | Jan 2, 2020, 15:19 IST
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BENGALURU: In a first, defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and Wipro 3D, the metal additive manufacturing business of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, have signed an MoU to design, develop, manufacture and repair of aerospace components using metal additive technology.

The agreement, HAL said on Thursday, accentuates development, prove out and application of new material for use in metal additive technology.

“The path breaking initiative will focus on development and production of aerospace applications including MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul), using metal additive manufacturing. Prove-outs and certification of components developed using metal 3D printing is also a key element of this co-operation,” a statement issued in Bengaluru read.

Shekhar Shrivastava, CEO, Bangalore Complex, HAL, said that the initiative between HAL and Wipro 3D will create a unique synergy of capabilities that can accelerate the adoption of metal additive manufacturing in Aerospace in India.

“Qualification of parts for aerospace is challenging as it would require prove out and extensive testing followed by certification by regulatory authorities which may also include flight testing. This cooperation would be a unique opportunity for both the parties and metal 3D printing has the potential to play a significant role in the success of national aerospace and defense platforms including HAL’s own needs,” he said.

Globally, the aerospace industry has been one of the foremost adopters of metal 3D printing due to the benefits of faster design iterations, weight and geometry optimization, performance improvement and flexible manufacturing.

Pratik Kumar, CEO, WIN, said, “This MoU will bring Metal 3D printing into the mainstream of India’s aerospace. Wipro 3D and HAL have worked together in the past, and this further strengthens our collaborative efforts to create additive technology leadership in Aerospace.”

Ajay Parikh, vice-president & business head, Wipro 3D, said that the MoU will provide significant manufacturing and MRO flexibility and freedom to existing, upcoming, and legacy aerospace programmes.

HAL, Wipro ink pact for 3D printing in aerospace - Times of India
 
Defence PSUs have unfair advantage: SIDM

By Manu Pubby, ET Bureau | Jan 01, 2020, 11.32 PM IST
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NEW DELHI: Issues over a level playing field with government-owned enterprises still remain, according to the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), which has expressed concern over increasing military imports and declining modernisation budget for the armed forces.

SIDM president Jayant D Patil told ET that it would be impossible for the private industry to compete with public sector units (PSUs), which have access to low interest capital, fixed infrastructure and manpower. He said government investments in PSUs should be taken into account and added to the cost of a product for competitive bids. “The fact is that government-owned assets provided to PSUs have to be at some point taken to book.

A sizeable amount of money has gone into creating these enterprises; this has to be measured. The moment it is brought to book, the PSUs will need to provide the extra cost (while bidding),” said Patil, who is also a Larsen and Toubro board member.

He said that unless the costs are accounted for, private industry will not be able to compete against government-owned units like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited that have been getting nominated orders from the forces for decades.

Patil, who recently took over as the SIDM president, raised concern over an increase in imports of defence equipment over the past few years which had reduced the share in the pie for the Indian industry.

“We saw that through policy changes, the domination of imports had started reducing. However, over the last two years or so, imports are increasing again,” said Patil. “The situation we had been getting used to was that 60-70% orders were placed with PSUs and 30-35% with overseas companies.

But what we have now seen is that 65%of contracts actually signed were with foreign companies.” He said the actual import percentage could be even higher as the domestic products too could have components and parts that have to be sourced from abroad.

Patil said there has been concern in the industry over a deficient defence modernisation budget that could impact procurement plans.

“Earlier, the spending on defence was 2.8% or more of the GDP. Today we are down to 1.6%. We can say that the GDP has grown, but the fact is that the cost of equipment has also gone up,” he said.

The industry has shared its concerns with the parliamentary standing committee on defence, which has expressed shock over a lack of funds being allocated to the forces and said that the international image of the country can come under question if committed liabilities are not paid off due to the inadequate budget.

“The committee finds the shortage baffling, as these are the payments towards procurements already done in previous years. The committee feel that making the country defaulter in payment will not go well in the international markets, therefore, they recommend that allocation as promised should be disbursed for committed liabilities,” said a report of the standing committee tabled in Parliament last month.

Defence PSUs have unfair advantage: SIDM
 
Gautam said:
India Develops Air Defence Gun for Army Amid Potential 'Aerial Threat' From Pakistan

24.12.2019

New Delhi (Sputnik): The development provides a big relief to the army, as most of its air defence inventory is "obsolete" and the army chief had to push an emergency button to acquire more such guns after the Pulwama attack in February this year, when the Pakistan Air Force retaliated for an Indian attack in Balakot.

India’s state-funded Ordnance Board Factory (OFB) – which administers 42 armament and ammunition factories across the country – has developed a high rate of fire gun to defend strategic assets in the border region.

A Defence Ministry official has informed a parliamentary panel that the trial of the OFB-developed air defence gun has already commenced.

“A high rate of fire gun for defence of vulnerable areas against incoming enemy aircraft/missile has been developed… The initial firing trial has been done internally by [the] Ordnance Factory Board”, the Defence Ministry official said.

The official also informed the panel about the status of the project. The India-made guns will have an effective range of 4,000 metres or more against aerial targets.

“OFB is possibly developing these guns in conjunction with the Armament Research and Development (Pune) and will be a part of the government's Make in India in Defence under the Indigenously Designed and Developed category”, said Rahul K. Bhonsle, retired army brigadier and defence analyst.

Sources said this gun is being developed in response to the Indian Army's requirements of 938 air defence guns worth around $5 billion. These guns will replace the aging Swedish L-70 and Soviet-era ZU-23MM-2B guns currently in use by the army.

Besides air defence guns, the Indian Army also put out purchase plan for 505,920 rounds of ammunition. The OFB has also manufactured various varieties of ammunition for the air defence guns.

“The ammunition is a progressive development that has been ongoing by the OFB and it appears that it has achieved some new landmarks”, Bhonsle added.

The Indian Army started to expedite the deployment of defence systems across the Kashmir after a major clash in February this year.

The Pakistan Air Force dropped the H-4 Stand-Off Weapon (SOW), a precision-guided glide bomb, in retaliation to the 26 February "non-military" airstrike, as claimed by the Indian Air force, in the Balakot region to destroy alleged infrastructure of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group.

The SOW bomb fell inside a compound of the Indian Army's brigade headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri sector. Pakistan claimed it had successfully exposed chinks in the armour of India. Pakistani military spokesperson Major Gen. Asif Ghafoor claimed that the PAF had set out to execute the attack in a way to "made sure that there was no collateral damage".

India Develops Air Defence Gun for Army Amid Potential 'Aerial Threat' From Pakistan
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Can anybody get past the paywall ? Please do post the article here :

National Aerospace Laboratory wants govt. push for Saras Mk2 takeoff
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Never mind I got it :

National Aerospace Laboratory wants govt. push for Saras Mk2 takeoff

The government needs to be the “launch customer” to make Saras Mk2 commercially viable, the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL), which has developed the first indigenous light transport aircraft, told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology.

The 19-seater aircraft, developed with a target cost of ?50 crore, is at least 20-25% lower in cost than other aircraft in the similar category. The aircraft has been in the making for long. The first prototype flew in 2004. But without the initial push from the government, the manufacturing capacity required for commercial production could not be set up, the NAL said.

On a five-day tour of ISRO facilities from December 25 to 30, the committee members visited the NAL on December 28 and were briefed about the aircraft. Later, NAL Director Jitendra J. Jadhav sent a report on the plan for commercial production. Committee chairperson and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh forwarded the report to Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu.

Presently, the NAL has only one order from the Indian Air Force for 15 aircraft.

Connectivity plans

The NAL has been pitching SARAS Mk-2 for the government’s UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), since it has the capacity to operate in “ill-equipped”, “semi-prepared” and “unpaved airstrips”. The scheme, launched in October 2016, is aimed at linking up areas that have no air connectivity.

The NAL has said in its report to Mr. Ramesh that the government should be the “launch customer” and place an order for at least 50-60 aircraft, which can be used for VIP services or tackling emergencies in times of natural calamities.

“With the firm commitment for procurement from the government, industries will come forward to set up manufacturing infrastructure. This will also push the growth of the micro, small and medium enterprises and allied service sector,” Mr. Jadhav said in his report.
 
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Taking out designated terrorists from Pakistan ? India working on weaponising drones for future wars

By: Huma Siddiqui | Published: January 6, 2020 9:20:21 PM

A drone-based air-surveillance utilizes either a fixed-wing or a Rotary configuration unmanned aerial vehicle. A fixed-wing drone has an aeroplane like wings and control surfaces to leverage aerodynamics forces.
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Nurturing this drone R&D as a home-grown technology by the defence for all three services could be the first positive step. (Representative image)

Drones are an effective, cheap and a politically desired instrument for neutralising high-value targets, especially selected individual operating in public areas. Based on the attack approach, targets are selected and these drones could be either take a ‘kamikaze’ aerial attack or a ‘directed attack’. A ‘Kamikaze’ attack could be as simple as feeding the drone with the target’s Latitude and Longitude so that the drones cruise to the target and crash with explosive mounted over it to destroy them. However, in case of ‘directed attack’, the drones are guided to the missile firing zone and target parameters are provided to the drone system to launch an air-to-surface missile precisely on the chosen target.

For this, usually, a man on the ground supplying accurate real-time information on the target of choice is an important criterion for a successful drone strike, especially with restrictions in public areas. Vehicles like car or military trucks always make for a large trackable target with a linear movement and are the best suited for drone strikes. The key, in every drone strike, is the precision combined with a surprise element. To this effect, these drone strikes are usually the culmination of the combined activity of intense ground and air surveillance until the end of the mission. “The human intelligence (HUMINT) on the ground is essential for tracking the target for days or weeks, confirming target movement habits and finding suitable opportunity and time for a planned strike. So, each weaponized drone strike is always a well-planned activity and a chance happening. Therefore, a network of ground-based human intelligence and digital espionage mechanism are usually the main support required for such covert drone strikes,” explains Milind Kulshreshtha, C4I expert

Does the Indian Army have the capability to take out designated terrorists from Pakistan ?

In India, the three Services have used imported well-proven fixed-wing drones for ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) missions. Indigenisation efforts by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Defence PSU HAL and multiple private agencies have been in the progress but due to various dynamics like a lack of Drone regulations which support military and commercial industry. Drones carrying Air-to-Surface missiles are a capability not yet harnessed by India and are an essential technology in today’s asymmetric warfare. Definitely such drone launched a missile strike shall require Indian HUMINT operatives in the region of interest and may evolve an altogether new but effective warfare tactic for India, very similar to one being successfully exploited by the US using the weaponised drones. Nurturing this drone R&D as a home-grown technology by the defence for all three services could be the first positive step.

Drone Attack Tactics

A drone-based air-surveillance utilizes either a fixed-wing or a Rotary configuration unmanned aerial vehicle. A fixed-wing drone has an aeroplane like wings and control surfaces to leverage aerodynamics forces. The rotary drones fly like a helicopter with propeller sets classifying them as Quad-copter or Hexa-copter. Technically, it is possible to have a combination of fixed-wing and rotary drone called Hybrid drone, which combines the benefits of both.

“The payloads used for drone surveillance are high-grade day/night vision cameras, thermal sensors or EW sensors. The advantage of surveillance equipment on the drone is that these can be taken to places required, flown for the time required and the drone platforms are usually inaudible on the ground when flying at altitudes above 100m. Surveillance aircraft and helicopters are far too noisy, make an easy target blip on radars and have soldiers onboard whose lives are at risk. A loss of a drone does not have such nuances involved and proving the nationality of a spy drone brought down is never easy,” Kulshreshtha says.

According to the C4I expert “Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) are exclusively meant for the military for delivering stealthily an explosive payload and missiles, with the capability to engage targets on the ground, on the sea surface or in the air. A swarm of weaponised drones too shall have the potential for offensive and a defensive role.”

Combat drones in possession of non-state actors is a cause of concern and anti-drone technology is not yet mature to provide an impenetrable shield against various kinds of drone attacks. The Saudi Arabia oil refinery attack was one such attack, which caused huge loss caused by a few thousand dollars worth of drones, and to-date legally no one has been branded the responsibility of this devastating drone attack.

“The Strait of Hormuz, off Iran’s southern coast is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point and is the only sea route to move oil from the Persian Gulf to the world’s oceans. Already there is an active drone warfare over the area, with the US and Iran each regularly downing each other’s drones. This evidently makes the tankers transporting approx. 20 million barrel oil per year highly susceptible to drone attacks,” said a security expert.

Adding “In a drone strike scenario, labelling responsibility to a group or a nation is very difficult and ownership of the drone attack can very easily be claimed by any militia group looking instant fame. With the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in today’s world, drone units linked to the Ground Control shall be becoming more capable of automatically undertake target engagement activities like Tracking, Target Designation and its annihilation.”

Taking out designated terrorists from Pakistan? India working on weaponising drones for future wars
 
HAL needs new orders to keep production going after 2021-22


Updated: Jan 11, 2020 05:25 IST
Rahul Singh
Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is betting on the Indian Air Force (IAF) to place a multi-billion dollar order for an advanced version of the indigenously produced Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, before the financial year ends, said an official.
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As part of its existing orders, HAL has to supply 24 LCA jets and a few Sukhoi-30s to the IAF.(Reuters File Photo )

State-run aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) needs fresh orders for fighter jets, trainers and helicopters fast to prevent a complete halt of production at its facilities, two senior government officials said, asking not to be named.

HAL’s order books are empty beyond 2021-22 and new orders from the armed forces are critical for continuity in production, the government has told Parliament’s standing committee on defence.

The company is betting on the Indian Air Force (IAF) to place a multi-billion dollar order for an advanced version of the indigenously produced Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, before the financial year ends, said one of the two officials cited above. The air force plans to buy 83 LCA Mk-1A jets, taking the total number of Tejas variants ordered to 123.

Another order that HAL is eyeing is the supply of 70 locally produced basic trainers to the IAF. If it gets the order for the Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40), HAL could begin production of the trainers by early 2021, the second official said.

As part of its existing orders, HAL has to supply 24 LCA jets and a few Sukhoi-30s to the IAF.

“HAL’s production over last several years has been growing with highest turnover of ~19,705 crore recorded in the financial year 2018-19. However, the major part of existing orders for supply of aircraft and helicopters will be liquidated shortly with the major manufacturing order of Su-30MKI being completed in 2019-20,” the defence ministry told the standing committee on defence last month.

The ministry stressed that production would be hit for want of new orders. “Considering production/procurement lead time of 18 to 24 months involved in the manufacture of aircraft/helicopters, the existing facilities at HAL face the threat of idling and production will show a declining trend for want of confirmed orders.”

In a report tabled in Parliament last month, the committee said “all-out steps” should be taken to ensure that the “order book position” of defence public sector units improves in the coming years and the ministry should extend full cooperation to achieve that.

“As the production in the DPSUs [defence public sector units] is majorly contingent upon the operational needs of the armed forces, the committee recommends that timely intimation and placement of orders by the services, along with necessary financial support from the defence ministry wherever necessitated, must be provided to the DPSUs to arrest the decline in their production,” the panel said in its report.

HAL is the only plane maker in the country and it is in everyone’s interest that it stays in good health, said Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), additional director general, Centre for Air Power Studies.

“The ball is still in HAL’s court. A prototype of the Tejas Mk-1A is yet to fly. Only then can the IAF place an order,” Bahadur said.

The 40 LCAs already ordered by the IAF, of which 16 have been delivered, are in the initial operational clearance (IOC) and the more advanced final operational clearance (FOC) configurations. The LCA Mk-1A will come with additional improvements over the FOC aircraft, making it the most advanced Tejas variant so far.

The Mk-1A variant is expected to come with digital radar warning receivers, external self-protection jammer pods, active electronically scanned array radar, advanced beyond-visual-range missiles and significantly improved maintainability.

HAL needs new orders to keep production going after 2021-22
 
For Indian Army soldiers in Siachen, having a bath without water is now possible

By Shariq Khan
Updated: Dec 02, 2019, 03.04 PM IST
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“The products, indigenously manufactured under the Make in India and Swachh Bharat Scheme, have been dermatological tested and approved under FDA,” said Puneet Gupta.

Highlights :
  • Clensta can prove useful to patients in hospitals, the elderly and adventure enthusiasts.
  • Clensta as a brand has been established with the thought of providing innovative solutions to everyday problems.
  • The startup is now in the midst of developing a new set of products, that includes everything from waterless toothpaste, a pigeon repellent and an anti-mosquito spray.
In Siachen, the world’s highest battlefield, temperatures routinely plummet to -50 degree Celsius and the soldiers of the Indian Army posted at the base have to battle frostbite and icy winds. When battling such harsh weather conditions, normal day-to-day activities like taking a bath is a luxury. At least till now.

Working closely with defence personnel and observing the tough environmental conditions they worked under, Puneet Gupta decided to do something about it. His efforts culminated in starting Clensta, a waterless personal hygiene solution. The startup’s line of gel-based waterless bath and shampoo enables one to take a bath or wash their hair without using a single drop of water.

“I examined the hygienic situation of a soldier and the challenge of not bathing for days faced during their duty in places with extreme conditions like Siachen, Kargil or Drass. After witnessing their difficulty in maintaining personal, I decided to develop waterless technology products, leading to the establishment of Clensta,” says Gupta.

Need of the hour

Clensta (formed by joining two words -cleaning and instant), is, however, not just for soldiers stationed in extreme environments, but can prove useful to patients in hospitals, elderly people and adventure enthusiasts.

According to the founder, with both water scarcity and the level of groundwater now reaching alarming levels (both nationally and globally), and for a country that remains drought-prone, where natural calamities are a regular phenomenon affecting more than its 330 million inhabitants, Clensta is a much-needed idea.

“Amid a scarcity of water to drink, Clensta is a big boon for India since it does not use a drop of water,” avers the firm's CEO, adding that the saved water resources can subsequently be conserved and used for other purposes, allowing people to have a hygienic life without worrying about water availability.

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(Clensta team)

According to the 34-year old founder, Clensta as a brand has been established with the thought of providing innovative solutions to everyday problems. Citing how various unhygienic bathing standards applicable for patients today make it problematic for them to maintain cleanliness, he opines that the easy availability of waterless bath and shampoo now makes it easy for patients to maintain hygiene in severe health conditions.

As a technology, Clensta’s makers claim it to be a simple formulation - free of alcohol, Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS, a chemical generally used in bathing products) and any other harmful ingredients. Moreover, unlike traditional products, it can be directly applied to hair and body, massaged and then can be dried off using a towel.

“Its advanced gel-based cleansing formula not only removes dirt, oil, and grease completely, but also provides anti-microbial properties, removes body odour and maintains the pH of the skin and keeps it moisturised,” adds Gupta, claiming that the entrapments of dust microbes and bacteria are a common occurrence on human skin and unlike bathing with soap that requires almost 70 litres of water, Clensta’s solutions require none.

Unique formulation

According to the team behind this IIT-Delhi partnered venture, Clensta’s waterless body bath products are distinguished from others based on their formulation and innovativeness too.

“The Clensta products are formulated with ingredients (chlorhexidine, dehydroacetic acid, and benzyl alcohol) which kill 99 % of germs. The relative amount of ingredients and the ratio (weight/vol %) of every ingredient and its synergism makes our product different from a normal shampoo. Due to this combination, the products can maintain the same level of cleansing effect without leaving the same high level of residue,” says Gupta.

Stressing on the company's thrust on sustainable manufacturing, the founder asserts that the company has prepared products using the ingredients that will break down in nature. “The products, indigenously manufactured under the Make in India and Swachh Bharat Scheme, have been dermatological tested and approved under FDA,” Gupta says.

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Path ahead

On the company’s rapid strides so far, Gupta affirms that ever since its inception in 2016 (with product commercialization happening only in 2018), the company has built a significant market for its waterless products.

While maintaining that the opportunity of converting climatic risk into a business opportunity does drive Clensta to explore untapped frontiers, the startup founder adds that the sectors such as healthcare, defence, travel and places with acute water scarcity remain his key target segments.

“The company’s progress could be determined by the numbers of bottles sold till date,” he boasts, adding that the company has successfully sold around 3 lakh bottles to its consumers since its incorporation.

The biotech startup’s products, besides widely accepted in the Indian Army and Navy, have so far made it to the shelves in many private and government hospitals and organisations, including – All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML), Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM) and CK Birla, among others.

Explaining the existing revenue stream of the company, Gupta adds that presently the firm follows a B2B sales channel through which the product is sold via a distribution network. Presently, Clensta's offerings are currently available on all the leading e-commerce portals like Amazon, Flipkart, and Seniority.

Gupta says the startup is now in the midst of developing a new set of products, that includes everything from waterless toothpaste, a pigeon repellent and an anti-mosquito spray. Describing the USP of its soon to be launched ‘waterless toothpaste’, Gupta says the product has a big potential in the oral care market.

The firm also intends to develop an innovative bio-repellent for pigeons, which it claims, will exhibit excellent performance over a number of surfaces, while being devoid of any harmful chemicals. Also, its anti-mosquito body bath will offer cleansing benefit along with mosquito repellent properties.

For Indian Army soldiers in Siachen, having a bath without water is now possible
 
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Maruti Gypsy Production Begins Again In India Only For Defence Orders

By Team GaadiWaadi - January 15, 2020
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Indian Army ended the contract with Maruti Suzuki for the supply of new cars to choose Tata Safari Storme previously. Army has now placed fresh orders for the Gypsy

Early last year, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), the largest-selling car maker in the country, announced the discontinuation of its aged but highly capable Gypsy mini SUV in the local car market. The much-revered off-roader was discontinued from 1 April 2019 due to the SUV’s inability to meet the updated safety regulations.

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Also, the Indian Army, which has been the largest buyer of the Maruti Gypsy, had decided to switch to the Tata Safari Storme. However, it has now come to light that the car maker will soon resume the production of its ‘mountain goat’ as it has received a fresh order from the Army.

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TATA Safari Storme Amry spec.

However, this time around, the iconic off-roader won’t be available to the private car buyers. While the Maruti Gypsy not only fails to conform with the updated safety regulations, but its G13 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine will even fail to achieve compliance with the BSVI emission norms. Hence, the Gypsy sold to the Army won’t comply with both updated safety and emission regulations. It’s worth mentioning here that these norms don’t apply to Army vehicles.

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Indian Army may also consider buying the new Maruti Jimny SUV once its launched in India

In a related development, it emerged a few months ago that the carmaker plans to launch a successor of the Maruti Gypsy in the new car market in the form of a derivative of the current generation Suzuki Jimny. While the company has maintained that there is little demand for mini off-roaders, the company plans to come up with an India-specific version.

With the launch of the India-spec Suzuki Jimny, the company would hope to recreate the magic of the Maruti Gypsy, which was first launched in the country over 34 years ago.

Also, it may be noted here that the India-spec Gypsy was itself a derivative of the second-gen Suzuki Jimny. Also, unlike the Maruti Gypsy, the upcoming Suzuki Jimny SUV for India will be in compliance with the new safety and emission norms. The off-roader will share its 1.5-litre petrol engine with the Ertiga and Ciaz and will be based on the Jimny Sierra sold abroad.

Maruti Gypsy Production Begins Again In India Only For Defence Orders
 
ezsasa on D. F.I. :
BEML has released an RFI/EOI Special Armored Vehicle (SAV) on 4x4 and 6x6 variants :
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I wonder what for. Can anybody find the original document, I can't seem to find it.
 
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This desi gel can take a bite out of frostbite

Saturday, 18 January 2020 | Archana Jyoti | New Delhi
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Mountaineers, soldiers posted in extreme regions, winter sports enthusiasts, and those visiting/living in snow-bound area at high-altitudes like Siachen or Ladkah have now an on-site treatment available for frostbites — a medical condition involving damage to skin and tissues due to extreme cold.

Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) in Mohali, an autonomous institution under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIAR), DRDO and Panjab University have developed a cold-stable spray gel “Nano-Spray Gel” that could be administered on-site for the immediate treatment of frostbite injuries. If frostbite is not treated promptly, it can lead to gangrene and amputation of the affected limbs.

The innovation of Nano-Spray Gel, which is a combination of NSAID (painkiller and anti-inflammatory) and clotbuster drugs (thrombolytic) for rapid relief and effective management of frostbite injury, has been published in the peer reviewed journal “American Chemical Society Biomaterials Science & Engineering”.

Frostbite can occur when the skin is exposed to a temperature of 0°C (32°F) or lower. It can be difficult to get treated quickly in remote, snowbound areas. This is also a serious medical problem for the armed forces operating in snow-bound areas at high altitudes like Siachen, Ladhak and so on, said lead author Kalpesh Vaghasiya from INST.

He said that the spray gel has been prepared using heparin, an anticoagulant that improves blood flow by reducing clotting and aiding in blood vessel repair. The researchers packaged heparin into liposomes — lipid carriers, thus helping deliver the anticoagulant deep inside the skin.

Then they embedded the heparin-loaded liposomes in a sprayable hydrogel that also contained ibuprofen (a painkiller and anti-inflammatory drug) and propylene glycol, which helped keep the spray from freezing at very low temperatures.

The researchers tested the spray gel on rats with frostbite, and found that the treatment completely healed the injuries within 14 days. In comparison, untreated injuries were only about 40 per cent healed, while wounds treated with an antibiotic cream were about 80 per cent healed.

The spray reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines at the wound site and in the blood circulation, which likely accelerated healing, the study ‘Heparin-Encapsulated Metered-Dose Topical “Nano-Spray Gel” Liposomal Formulation Ensures Rapid On-Site Management of Frostbite Injury by Inflammatory Cytokines Scavenging’ said.

Frostbite causes fluids in the skin and underlying tissues to freeze and crystallize, resulting in inflammation, decreased blood flow, and cell death. Extremities are the most affected areas because they are farther away from the body’s core and already have reduced blood flow, said the researchers.

Conventional treatments include immersing the body part in warm water, applying topical antibiotic creams or administering vasodilators, and anti-inflammatory drugs, but many of these are unavailable in isolated snowy areas, like mountaintops. Others, such as topical medications, could end up freezing themselves. The new gel can be of great help under such conditions, as per the researchers.

The other scientists involved in the innovation included Rahul Verma, Ankur Sharma, Eupa Ray, Suneera Adlakha from INST, Kushal Kumar and Sunil Kumar Hota from DIAR and Om Prakash Katare from University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

This desi gel can take a bite out of frostbite
 
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