The Indian journey to become a missile power was enabled by a team of dare devils at the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL). The book traces the origin and development of India’s missile related infrastructure and missiles till 1982 until Dr. Abdul Kalam arrived at the scene. The fascinating story has been narrated by the pioneers themselves and edited by Dr. Prahalada. The chapters contain descriptions of key infrastructure, key people, key programs like India’s first Anti-Tank Missile, the Devil program, the Valiant Program and genesis of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme – IGMDP. The pioneers also describe the management practices developed and implemented to manage the complex programmes at shoe string budgets.

Dr Prahlada is popularly known for his role as the Project Director for Akash SAM missile system. He has also been Program Director for India’s SLBM K15, supersonic cruise missile Brahmos and has led the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) as the Chairman of the Program Board. As the Director of DRDL he has initiated many new projects like Astra air to air missile system, Long Range Surface to air missile system for naval application, JV Project Brahmos Supersonic cruise missile system and hypersonic technology demonstrator. Since 1971 he has served in various ISRO and DRDO Establishments covering VSSC Trivandrum, ADE Bangalore and DRDL Hyderabad. His areas of interest cover aerodynamics, flight controls, guidance, propulsion, system design and system engineering, Project Management, Research Management and Technology Management. He has been the President and Chairman of many organisations, Fellow of many professional bodies and has won a number of awards including Padma Shri.