NSTL launches torpedo & recovery vessel
A new torpedo and recovery vessel of the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) was launched on Saturday by Lalitha Bhujanga Rao, wife of Dr V Bhujanga Rao, Director-General (Naval Systems and Materials) of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) at Shoft Shipyard Pvt Ltd, Bharuch, Gujarat, where the vessel was built.
Visakhapatnam: A new torpedo and recovery vessel of the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) was launched on Saturday by Lalitha Bhujanga Rao, wife of Dr V Bhujanga Rao, Director-General (Naval Systems and Materials) of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) at Shoft Shipyard Pvt Ltd, Bharuch, Gujarat, where the vessel was built.
- Put together with indigenous know-how
- Has unique power-saving features; built in record time
- Slated for commissioning in March 2015
The colourful launch ceremony was attended by C D Malleswar, NSTL Director, senior scientists from DRDO, officials of the Indian Navy , IIT Kharagpur and Indian Register of Shipping.
Sahay Raj, CMD of Shoft Shipyard, thanked DRDO for the opportunity and said the shipyard was one of the few in the country to acquire licence to construct warships for the Indian Navy. Dr. Rao, who was the chief guest, said this was the first catamaran of this size, with significantly less power and displacement for its mission role, fully developed and built with indigenous know-how.
Malleswar explained that the ship had unique power-saving features that were a product of research at the hydrodynamic research wing of NSTL. He appreciated the collaborative effort of scientists and academicians from IIT Kharagpur and the shipyard to produce a technologically complex design without foreign collaboration.
He commended the shipyard for making it in a record time. The ship will be operated by the Indian Navy under the Eastern Naval Command. On commissioning, which is scheduled on March 2015, the vessel will be used to carry out technical trials of underwater weapons and systems developed by NSTL , a naval systems laboratory of DRDO. The vessel has been designed with a unique hull form that significantly reduces power requirement.
The vessel is 50 metres long with a speed of 15 knots and can operate at high sea. It has a large deck area with launchers for deployment and recovering various kinds of torpedoes during trials. It has a complement of 50 personnel, including 13 scientists, and has capability to undertake multiple trials during a single sortie.
