Laser Science and Technology Centre

The Laser Science and Technology Centre (LASTEC) is the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO)’s oldest laboratory. LASTEC grew out of the Defense Science Laboratory (DSL), which was established in Delhi in 1950. The DSL was founded as a “nucleus laboratory” to conduct research in “frontier areas of physics, chemistry, and mathematics with a special focus on lasers and opto-electronics.” In 1960, DSL was shifted from the campus of the National Physical Laboratory to Metcalfe House. In 1980, the DSL was once again moved to a new building within the Metcalfe House complex and renamed as the Defence Science Centre.

LASTEC has developed:

• Critical technologies for an “engineered version of a ring laser gyro” for use in aircraft and missiles.
• “Thin film coating technology for hard-coated mirrors, low-scattering mirrors, IR coatings, metallic coatings required for carbon-dioxide gas dynamic laser, ring laser gyros, and other applications.”
• “Miniature cooling system” for the DRDO’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.