DRDO FLAGS OFF FIRST ‘VARUNASTRA’ HEAVYWEIGHT TORPEDO

DRDO FLAGS OFF FIRST ‘VARUNASTRA’ HEAVYWEIGHT TORPEDO

Context

The Defence Research and Development (DRDO) Chairman G Satheesh Reddy has flagged off the first Production unit of Heavy Weight Torpedo (HWT), Varunastra.

Details

The Varunastra has been designed and developed by Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL) of DRDO while Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Vishakhapatnam has manufactured the torpedo for the Indian Navy.

About the Varunastra

• It is a ship-launched, heavyweight, electrically propelled anti-submarine torpedo.
• It can be launched from ships that can fire heavyweight torpedoes to engage quiet submarines in deep and shallow waters.
• It is powered by an electric propulsion system with multiple 250 Kilowatts Silver Oxide Zinc (AgOZn) batteries.
• It is capable of achieving a speed of 40 Knots (74 Kms/hr), weighs around 1.25 tons and can carry up to 250 kg of the conventional warhead. It is made of 95% Indigenous contents.
• The heavyweight torpedo is also being offered for exports.

About Torpedo

It is a cigar-shaped, self-propelled underwater missile, launched from a submarine, surface vessel, or aeroplane and designed for exploding upon contact with the hulls of surface vessels and submarines.