Being a woman, when you live and breathe a missile then what possibly can happen? Well, you create deadly missiles and you procreate a fighter jet (Well, kind of!). Yes, she is Tessy Thomas, the legendary “Missile Woman of India”; designer of Agni – III, Agni – IV, and Agni – V ballistic missiles. , Her only son’s name is Tejas, she named him after the fighter jet designed in India by Indian technology.
She was born and brought up in Kerala. Right from childhood she was baffled by the technology behind rockets. She had developed such an inclination towards rocket technology because her home was very close to Thumba Rocket Launching Station. Apart from rockets, science and mathematics were her favorite subjects. Due to her outstanding academic achievements, she received numerous scholarships which proved helpful to continue her study. She also had to borrow a loan from the Bank to support her study expenses. Her father was partially paralyzed and her school teacher mother was struggling to run the household of eight members. So nothing was served on a silver platter to her.
In 1988 she joined the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). She joined DRDO with a dream to make India completely self-dependent in long-distance ballistic missile technology. A few years later Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam himself appointed her to ‘Project Agni’. It was one of the most important projects for the Indian defense system. Because the successful implementation of that project was going to ensure the much-needed self-dependency of India in long-distance ballistic missiles. Needless to say, Tessy embraced the challenge instantly.
She was appointed as Associate Project Director – for Agni III (3000 KM range), Project Director for Agni IV (4000 KM range), and Agni V (5000 KM range). The consecutive success of these projects gave her a new name and that was ‘Agni Putri’ (The Daughter of Fire) or the “Missile Woman of India”. Under her leadership, India became self-reliant in long-distance ballistic missile technology in this part of the world. In 2018, she was promoted and presently she is the Director General of Aeronautical Systems in DRDO.
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