After Dr. BHVS Narayana Murthy, DS & Director General, Missiles and Strategic Systems (DG, MSS), retired on 31st May 2023, Ummalaneni Raja Babu, Distinguished Scientist, and Director, RCI, was appointed Director General, Missiles & Strategic Systems, DRDO, Hyderabad, effective from June 1, 2023.
During his 35 years of professional aerospace career, he worked on aircraft, helicopters, and the development of many missile systems. Under his leadership ‘Mission Shakti’, India’s first Anti-Satellite Missile Test (A-SAT) was successfully demonstrated.
He is a graduate of mechanical engineering from Andhra University. He obtained his Master’s from IIT Kharagpur and MBA from JNTU. He began his career with the India Air Force in 1988 and Joined DRDO in 1995.