Hyderabad: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has appointed Distinguished Scientist Dr Jagannath Nayak as Director General (Missiles and Strategic Systems) with effect from July 1, 2026. The DRDO Jagannath Nayak appointment marks a significant leadership change in the organisation’s strategic systems programme.
Dr Nayak currently serves as Director of the Centre for High Energy Systems and Sciences (CHESS). During a career spanning more than 35 years, he has made major contributions to Fibre Optic Gyroscope technology, Akash missile guidance systems and Directed Energy Weapons.
He led the development of India’s first Directed Energy Weapon system and played a key role in advancing indigenous defence technologies.
DRDO Jagannath Nayak led key defence programmes
Dr Nayak has published more than 125 research papers in reputed journals and conference proceedings. He has also authored several books and guided more than 10 Ph.D. scholars.
His areas of expertise include Directed Energy Weapons, Inertial Navigation Systems, lasers and fibre optics.
Further, Dr Nayak has received several prestigious honours. They include the Aryabhata Award from the Astronautical Society of India, the National Aeronautical Prize from the Aeronautical Society of India, the DRDO Agni Award for Excellence in Self-Reliance, the Nina Saxena Excellence in Technology Award and the Aeronautical Society of India Swarna Jayanti Award.