Having been involved in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles and seen some success, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has completed the testing of the AUV, a remotely-operated vehicle.
And that these vehicles can help the Indian Navy insurveying waters, thereby lending the long-felt aid to keep at bay “foreign” vessels or submarines with potential risks, sources said, is the plus point.
“The project has achieved all the objectives we envisaged. The project primarily meant for defence research with Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad, as the concurrent engineering partner,” Manu Korulla of DRDO, the project director (AUV), told Deccan Herald. “It is very small in size and operates around a mother ship from where it is launched, controlled and recovered,” ECIL said.
Stating that this will be useful for any underwater surveillance and intelligence gathering, ECIL said: “The AUV is first of its kind being developed and produced by ECIL. It will also facilitate carrying of payloads if the missions require it to.” Sources said these intelligent underwater vehicles required inter-disciplinary efforts in the fields of hydrodynamics, control and guidance et al and that they will prove to be an important part of the Navy.
The DRDO, Korulla, said answering a specific query: “Further, technology will be transferred to industry through mission mode projects based on specific application and requirements.”