Ship Design workshop aims to promote self-reliance

Visakhapatnam: With an objective to strengthen India’s indigenous ship design capabilities and foster collaboration among stakeholders from the Indian Navy, defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs), private shipyards, classification societies and academia, Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) hosted a ship design workshop (SDW-25) to promote self-reliance and strengthen indigenous ship design ecosystem.

In his inaugural address, RV Hara Prasad, Director General, Naval Systems and Materials, DRDO highlighted the pivotal role of indigenous ship design and innovation in achieving Atmanirbharta in naval systems. He stressed on the need to integrate emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) tools, digital twin concepts, meta-materials and advanced stealth design techniques into future ship design processes.

Further, he spoke about the growing importance of green ship technologies, energy-efficient propulsion systems, and sustainable materials to align naval design with global environmental and operational standards. Addressing the gathering, Rear Admiral Sujit Baxi, Director General, Warship Design Bureau commended DG (NS&M) and Director NSTL for taking a milestone initiative in bringing together all key stakeholders of the national ship design ecosystem on a common platform. He appreciated DRDO’s leadership in driving collaborative innovation and reaffirmed the navy’s commitment to strengthening indigenous design capabilities in partnership with DRDO, industry and academia.

In his welcome address, Abraham Varughese, Director of NSTL, outlined the laboratory’s contributions in underwater systems, ship hydrodynamics and stealth technologies. He noted that the workshop provides a unique platform for dialogue between designers, shipbuilders, classification societies and academia to identify areas for joint R&D and technological innovation.

The workshop featured technical sessions covering capabilities of NSTL in the field of hydrodynamics and stealth technologies, demonstration of facilities, high speed towing tank, seakeeping, cavitation tunnel, model manufacturing facility, wind tunnel, stealth and environmental test facilities.

This workshop enabled a roadmap towards realisation of indigenous design of various types of commercial and military ships by involving all the stakeholders towards aligning set goals of Atmanirbhar Bharat. The panel discussions with the focus to evolve a comprehensive ‘roadmap for collaborative ship design development’ was released during the event, identifying priority areas such as digital design frameworks, AI-driven performance prediction and integrated testing infrastructure.

The ship design workshop marks a significant milestone in India’s quest for technological self-reliance and maritime innovation, reaffirming DRDO’s commitment to empowering the nation’s ship design capabilities through science, research and collaboration. More than 100 participants from the Indian Navy, DPSUs, private shipyards, classification societies, design houses, and academic institutions participated in the workshop. The workshop was inaugurated in the presence of Cmde (Retd.) Girideep Singh, CMD of HSL, D Radha Krishna, Group Director, Warship Technologies, PC Praveen, Technology Director, Hydrodynamics Research and M Nageswara Rao, chairman SDW-25, the session was attended by senior officers from the Indian Navy, representatives from DPSUs, private shipyards, classification societies, design houses and academic and research institutions.