The torpedo launch and recovery vessel of the DRDO that was recently commissioned into the Indian Navy as INS Astradharini is designed to help speed the pace of weapon development programme.
INS Astradharini, which has capability to launch torpedoes, including swimout launch capability, obviates the need for Navy ships setting sail every time the scientists of the DRDO laboratory – Naval Science and Technology Laboratory (NSTL) – has to test the performance of its under-development underwater weapon systems. The ship manned by Naval officers and sailors has light armament.
The earlier Torpedo Recovery Vessels of the DRDO, classified as auxiliary class ships of the Indian Navy, were half the size and could carry limited cargo and the scientists too had to share the crammed space with the Navy men.
INS Astradharini is a technology demonstrator with the Indian Navy achieving 95 per cent indigenisation. The speciality steel used in the construction is 100 per cent indigenous. The catamaran hull form gives INS Astradharini higher stability in high seas and significantly reduces its power requirement. The 50-metre ship with a displacement of 650 tonnes has roomier cabins for the 13 scientists apart from the two Navy officers and 27 sailors.
DRDO laboratory, NSTL, has developed the design of the vessel, a DRDO project, in association with IIT Kharagpur and has tested the design at its facility. Since the NSTL does not have the staff to man the ship it is operated by the Indian Navy to help the laboratory to study the performance of underwater weapons systems it has developed.
The State government, which is planning to develop coastal cruises as part of tourism development, can use the INS Astradharini model.
The catamaran hull boat can operate on high sea states and its stability makes it very suitable for carrying passengers, C.D. Malleswar, Director, Naval Science and Technology Laboratory, has told The Hindu.
