Missile complex in Hyderabad to be named after Kalam

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will rename the country's key missile complex here after noted scientist and former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on his birth anniversary on October 15, an official statement said.

The event will take place at the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) here Thursday, marking the 84th birth anniversary of Kalam, who was popularly known as the country's "Missile Man".

Kalam had joined the complex, which is under the Defence Research and Development Organisation, in 1982 and was part of it for nearly two decades. It comprises the Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI) which is considered to be the brain child of Kalam.

As founder director, Kalam conceived and steered RCI as a generator of critical missile technologies.

Parrikar will also be inaugurating two advanced R&D facilities of RCI - the Outdoor RCS Test Facility, "ORANGE", at Dundigal and Kautilya Advanced Research Centre at RCI, Hyderabad, the statement added.

G. Satheesh Reddy, scientific adviser to defence minister and director, RCI, will also be present during the event.