Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, known for its prowess in the field of warship building, launched an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) on Friday.
This is GRSE’s first move towards the development of autonomous vehicles. Plans to develop a ship-based Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an Unmanned Surface Vessel (ASV) by the Navy by the end of the year were also announced.
The AUV was launched by Samir V Kamat, Secretary, Directorate of Defence Research & Development (DDR&D) and Chairman, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The AUV is a man-portable one that GRSE developed in collaboration with M/s AEPL and an industry partner. It has been designed to operate in a totally autonomous manner and will be able to carry a variety of payloads depending on its role. This could be mine detection, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) training, underwater inspection, search and rescue missions or scientific exploration.
The AUV is 2.15 m long and will have an endurance of nearly 14 hours. It will be able to operate at depths of up to 300 metres and will be equipped with a side scan sonar, a forward-looking sonar and an acoustic modem.
These AUVs will play an important role in mine countermeasure operations and also make excellent reusable targets during ASW practice by warships. They can also be deployed for passive acoustic monitoring during which they will remain in position for hours, monitoring the possible movement of sub-surface platforms.
The development of this AUV is also a major step towards indigenization in keeping with the nation’s Atmanirbharta policy, Cmde P R Hari IN(Retd), chairman and managing director, GRSE, said.
GRSE is also developing a ship-based autonomous drone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in partnership with TUNGA Aerospace Industries Pvt Ltd. This UAV will be capable of day-and-night autonomous operations and autonomous recovery on deck without any manual intervention. Full-scale sea trials are planned after intensive testing by the end of 2023.
At the same time, GRSE is developing an Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) that will be named Swadheen. This 5-metre-long craft is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of the Indian Navy. This USV has been developed in collaboration with a Startup and is now being outfitted with a complete bathymetry survey suite to facilitate autonomous surveys. Swadheen will be fully tested and ready to be deployed as an autonomous survey boat by the end of October this year. GRSE’s in-house designed zero-emission vessel that will operate as a ferry on the Hooghly may also be delivered to the Government of West Bengal by the end of this year.
“Today, GRSE has entered a select club of companies engaged in the construction of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). At GRSE, it has always been a part of our plans to diversify into the world of unmanned vehicles – aerial, surface and sub-surface. Autonomous systems and Green Energy are fields that have the potential to bring about disruptive changes in the maritime sector (including the Navy) in the near future. At GRSE, we have been able to combine the intrinsic knowledge imbibed over years of designing and building complex platforms and the transformative potential of Startups, to work on these critical technologies,” Cmde Hari added.
Kamat appreciated GRSE’s efforts and highlighted the role being played by Startups today in developing technology for defence purposes.
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