Amid the Covid-19 surge and shortage of oxygen cylinders across the country, the On-Board Oxygen Generation (OBOG) developed for the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas has been translated into a civilian-use oxygen generation plant that can produce 1,000 litres of oxygen every minute.
This was briefed to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Tuesday in a virtual meeting to review the preparedness of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces to deal with the recent spike in COVID-19 cases across the country.
The Defence Minister was also informed that based on the On-Board Oxygen Generation Technology developed for LCA Tejas, a 1000 litre/minute capacity oxygen generation plants technology has been given to the industry and the Uttar Pradesh government has placed order of five such plants with the industry.
Dr G Satheesh Reddy informed the Defence Minister that more plants can be supplied by the industry to cater to the hospital requirements. He further said SpO2 (Blood Oxygen Saturation) based supplemental oxygen delivery system developed for soldiers posted at extreme high-altitude areas can be used for COVID patients as their conditions become similar. The product will be available soon in the market from the industry as per technology provided by DRDO.
DRDO Chairman briefed that a COVID-19 facility, developed by DRDO, has again been made functional in New Delhi and efforts are being made to soon increase the number of beds from 250 to 500.
About Tejas aircraft:
Tejas is an indigenous fighter aircraft jointly developed by Aeronautical Development Agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. It is the smallest lightweight, multi-role, single-engine tactical fighter aircraft in the world.