HHV Bags Award for ‘Safety Against Class 3&4 Lasers’ from the Ministry of Defence, Govt of India

Hon’ble Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at DEFCONNECT 2.0 award ceremony

Bengaluru, India – Hind High Vacuum Co Pvt Ltd (HHV), a global leader in vacuum and thin film technology, has won an award from the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, at the recently concluded DEFCONNECT 2.0. Hon’ble Defence Minister Rajnath Singh presented the award in a ceremony at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. The company took part in the Open Challenge 3.0 organized by iDex (Innovating for Defence Excellence), a DIO initiative, and was awarded a ‘Certificate of Recognition’ for its indigenized and innovative work on Laser Safety Coatings for the Defense Industry.

The DIO-funded and managed iDex aims to create an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging industries and providing them with grants/funding and other support to carry out R&D that has a high potential for future adoption for Indian defence and aerospace needs. It creates opportunities for innovators to propose ways to leverage their technological capabilities to strengthen India’s defence capabilities through the iDEX Open Challenge.

“Today, lasers can be found in a multitude of applications, especially laser guns used in defense. Because of the high-power densities that lasers achieve, they pose a serious risk to eyes and skin. Laser Safety Coatings are designed to protect human eyes from laser beams and are categorized into several hazard classes: 2M, 3R, 3B, and 4, depending on their power limits. The unprotected human eye is extremely sensitive to laser radiation and can be permanently damaged from direct or reflected beams,” said Prasanth Sakhamuri, Managing Director, HHV. “In this innovation, HHV team at Bangalore developed unique design of optical coatings on glass substrates that can be used for Laser Safety Glasses to be worn by defense personnel and Laser Safety Coated Periscope Prisms used in armored carriers, Submarines and battle tanks, providing complete protection to the personnel.”

He further added, “We are extremely proud of this prestigious recognition from the Ministry of Defence on our ‘Made in India’ laser coating technology. HHV has in-house design, prototype, and high-volume optics and thin-film coating manufacturing facility, which keeps costs competitive. At present, laser coating technology is available only with technologically advanced nations in Europe and the USA.”

Image Source: Hind High Vacuum Co Pvt Ltd