The Hindu : NSTL develops autonomous underwater vehicle

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 29, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

NSTL develops autonomous underwater vehicle

By Our Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM, FEB. 28. As Indian Air Force is having pilotless aircraft, Indian Navy too can have autonomous underwater vehicles, which can lay mines, launch missiles, take pictures without the need of any human being and return to the base as per instructions given through satellite. Naval Science and Technology Laboratory (NSTL), a wing of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has developed the 400-kg vehicle, which can carry out the instructions on its own moving 3-4 metre below water, said Rear Admiral S. Mohapatra. It will be guided by Geographical Position System (GPS). The vehicle moves so slowly and without noise that it cannot activate mines and so can move safely in the enemy's territory, he explained.

Speaking to newspersons here today, he said that NSTL has developed one-man hovercraft that moved 1.5 metres above water and can launch torpedoes. "The craft was made using Maruti 800 engine,'' said Rear Admiral Mahopatra. The craft will be handed over to the Navy in the next two or three months. The IIT, Kharagpur, provided technical support.

NSTL also developed a thermal torpedo, which was in final stages of test trials. When completed, India would be the fourth country to have thermal torpedoes after the U.S, erstwhile USSR and Sweden, he said.

Thermal torpedo runs on monopropellant fuel which can burn without oxygen and so is useful in underwater operations. The Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed the fuel which is being manufactured by a private factory at Lalithpur. NSTL started Thermal Torpedo Test Centre in 1996 which took nearly seven years to develop the engine and fuel. The monopropellant fuel can generate 400 kilowatt of power and enable the torpedo move at faster speed and at greater depths. The torpedo can go up to 600 metres depth. It can move at double the speed of electrically operated torpedo, he said.

After completing laboratory tests here, the thermal torpedo is being tested in Nagarjuna Sagar in the next couple of days. It will then be put to test in the sea to study its performance and make any modifications, if necessary, before handing it over to the Navy, he said.

pollution of air, water and food.

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