Cmde Balaji (Retd) takes over the reins of ADA at critical phase
Bengaluru, July 3: The Department of Defence Research and Development on Friday handed over the reins of Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to Cmde Cadaba Devnath Balaji (Retd).
An Outstanding Scientist and currently the Project Director of LCA (Navy), Cmde Balaji (Retd) has been appointed as the Director of ADA and Programme Director (Combat Aircraft).
As reported by OneIndia earlier, a search committee headed by former DRDO Chief Dr V K Aatre decided to hand over the baton to Cmde Balaji (Retd), who is part of ADA since 2002.
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Crucial juncture for LCA project
He takes over as the ADA chief at a crucial juncture when the LCA Tejas project is expected to get the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) by March 2016, a deadline that has seen many extensions.
As the captain of the ADA, Balaji will also have to get the Naval LCA moving forward with the crucial arrestor hook landing trials expected later this year.
Interestingly, Balaji is the man responsible for writing the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) paper on NLCA in 2002. The CCS gave the project its approval in 2003 and many credit him for having taking the project from ‘paper to flight.'
Though the NLCA was dogged in a series of delays, it has gained momentum in the last one year with the Indian Navy backing the programme to the hilt. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and other partners too have been extending outstanding support to the programme.
Balaji also oversaw the Indian Air Force (IAF) Tejas programme from close quarters, especially the build of the trainer version PV5 leading to its maiden flight in 2009.
Around 36 sorties of PV5 were personally monitored by him, after which it was handed over to the IAF programme. Incidentally, the Tejas trainers have the front fuselage of the naval variants.
As the Project Director NLCA, he was responsible for the first flight of NP-1 (Naval Prototype) on Apr 27, 2012. This feat was followed by the maiden ski jump launch on December 20, 2014 at the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) in Goa.
The design and build of this facility to replicate the aircraft carrier was in itself a challenge for Balaji and his team.
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He also oversaw the maiden flight of the NP-2 on February 7, 2015, just days ahead of 10th edition of Aero India. Executed efficiently by HAL, he has also steered the build of a ground-based naval variant purely for structural testing in a specially-created test rig.
Married to Rama Balaji, a teacher, his elder son Karthik is with the Indian Navy and younger son Anuj is employed in the US.
Speaking to OneIndia, soon after taking over the charge, Balaji said that he has already set his short-term goals.
"I must say I am stepping in with two key priorities. The FOC for IAF programme has to be met by early next year. Then comes the carrier capability trails of naval variant towards the end of 2016," says Balaji who lost his father at the age of nine, in a road accident. He was later brought up by his mother Amrita Devnath, as her only son.
*
Cmde
Balaji
(Retd)
is
born
on
13
March
1957
*
Holds
a
BE
in
Mechanical
Engineering
*
Commissioned
into
the
Indian
Navy
in
September
1978
*
Served
as
the
Air
Engineer
Officer
of
INAS
310
(Alize
bomber)
for
3
years
embarking
Aircraft
Carrier
Vikrant
in
1981
*
Worked
with
Sea
Harriers
in
1985
*
Took
Masters
in
Aerospace
Engineering
from
IISc
1986-88
*
Senior
Instructor
at
Naval
Institute
of
Aeronautical
Technology
(NIAT),
Kochi,
1988-89
*
Served
as
Lt.
Cdr
Chief
Engineer
officer
onboard
INS
Beas
1989-91
*
Station
Air
Engineer
Officer
at
INS
Hansa,
Goa
1991-95
*
As
a
Commander
served
INS
Magar
1995-97
*
Was
attached
to
ALH
project
office
in
HAL
1998-2002
*
Coordinated
the
naval
team
for
landing
of
ALH
on
INS
Ganga
*
Deputed
to
ADA
in
2002
*
Wrote
CCS
paper
on
NLCA
in
2002
*
Appointed
as
Project
Director
Navy
in
2005
*
Left
Navy
in
2006
and
joined
ADA
as
a
Naval
Project
Chief
(The writer is a seasoned aerospace and defence journalist in India. He is the Consultant Editor (Defence) with OneIndia. He tweets @writetake.)