Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) is a laboratory of the

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, head ...

(DRDO) which comes under Ministry of Defence. Located in

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

, the laboratory has become one of the major DRDO labs in the field of armament studies. TBRL is organized under the Armaments Directorate of DRDO. The present director of TBRL is Prateek Kishore.

History

TBRL was envisaged in 1961 as a modern armament research laboratory under the Department of Defence Research & Development. It became fully operational in 1967 and was formally inaugurated in January 1968 by the then

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

. While the main laboratory is situated in Chandigarh, the firing range, spread over an area of , is located at Ramgarh in

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

, 22 km away from Chandigarh.

Areas of work

TBRL conducts basic and applied research in the fields of

high explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

, detonics and

shock wave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

s. It is also involved in evolving data and design parameters for new armaments, as well as assessing the terminal effects of ammunition. Other areas of work include: :* Performance of armour defeating projectiles and immunity profiles :* Studies of ground shock, blast damage, fragmentation and lethality :* Preparation of safety templates for various weapons :* Studies of underwater detonics and pressure wave propagation :* Explosive forming, cladding and welding. :* Detonation dynamics of high explosives.

Projects and Products

TBRL is responsible for the development of

Explosive lens An explosive lens—as used, for example, in nuclear weapons—is a highly specialized shaped charge. In general, it is a device composed of several explosive charges. These charges are arranged and formed with the intent to control the sha ...

es for India's Nuclear weapons. These lenses were used on the Nuclear devices detonated in

Pokhran-I Smiling Buddha ( MEA designation: Pokhran-I) was the code name of India's first successful nuclear weapon test on 18 May 1974. The nuclear fission bomb was detonated in the Pokhran Test Range of the Indian Army in Rajasthan. As per the United ...

and

Pokhran-II Pokhran-II (''Operation Shakti'') was a series of five nuclear weapon tests conducted by India in May 1998. The bombs were detonated at the Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. It was the second instance of nuclear testing conducted ...

. Apart from this, TBRL also develops explosives-based products for conventional military and civilian use. * Baffle Ranges/ Practice Firing Ranges for Small Arms - TBRL is the nodal agency in India for design & development of different types of baffle

ranges In the Hebrew Bible and in the Old Testament, the word ranges has two very different meanings. Leviticus In Leviticus 11:35, ranges (כירים) probably means a cooking furnace for two or more pots, as the Hebrew word here is in the dual numbe ...

for

Small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

firing practice. This has reduced the area required as compared to conventional range. Consultancy for construction of such ranges is being provided to various units of Armed/Para-military forces. * Indigenous Plastic Bonded Explosive - Developed and established technology for Plastic Bonded Explosives (PBX), the latest class of HE compositions with high VOD and higher detonation pressures * Indigenous Digital Blast Data Recorder - This recorder was developed based on a new design technique, for direct measurement of important blast wave parameters * Indigenous Transducer for Blast-Measurement - Developed a blast pressure transducer for measuring pressures up to 14 kgm sqcm. It has a sensitivity of 1400 pc/kgm sqcm with a natural frequency of 200 kHz. These transducers are in regular production and being used by a no. of Laboratories. Impulse Generator : It has been developed for the simulation of impulse noise (=190 dB) and testing of artificial earplugs used by Armed Forces Medical Services * Impulse Generator- It has been developed for the simulation of impulse noise (=190 dB) and testing of artificial earplugs used by Armed Forces Medical Services * Bund Blasting Device (BBD) - Bund Blasting Device (BBD)Designed and developed Bund Blasting Device for breaching operation. *

Shivalik Multi Mode Grenade Shivalik may refer to: * Siwalik Hills, a series of ranges of outer foothills of Himalaya crossing Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bhutan * Shivalik-class frigate, ''Shivalik'' class frigate, a class of multi-role stealth frigates in service with the I ...

- Multi-mode hand grenade designed and developed with reliability >95%. *

Riot control Riot control is a form of public order policing used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to social control, control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful Demonstration (people), demonstration ...

Non-lethal Bullet - TBRL has designed and developed a non-lethal ammunition in two service calibres, a 7.62 mm and .303 inch for effective control of unruly rioting mobs. * IGLOO Magazine - A new construction technique of laced reinforced concrete construction in which continuous bent shear lacing along with longitudinal reinforcements on both faces of structure element are used for improving the ductility and energy absorbing capacity of the structure has been developed for a capacity of 5 Ton explosives. This design is being used by a no. of DRDO labs, Ordnance factories, DGQA and service depots. * Bulletproof Panels/Jackets testing - TBRL offers its expertise and specialised facilities for ballistic evaluation of bulletproof panels/helmets against various small arms ammunitions.

Technologies for civilian use

In 2019, TBRL has developed a Non-lethal

Plastic bullets Plastic bullet can refer to: * Plastic baton round: a large, blunt, low-velocity projectile fired from a specialized gun, intended as a less-lethal weapon for riot control and an alternative to rubber bullets. * Plastic bullet: a conventionally ...

for use by paramilitary forces and police, including usage for

crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir Crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir is a public security practice to prevent and manage violent riots. It is enforced by police forces through laws preventing unlawful assembly, as well as using riot control agents such as tear gas, chili gren ...

manufactured by the

Indian Ordnance Factories The Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) (abbreviated: DOO(C&S)) is an authority under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India. Its primary work is to management, give instructio ...

. In 2020, TBRL produced 10,000 full-face protective shields designed for the examination of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

patients, which were provided to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.

References

External links