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On December 13, 2001, a supersonic missile assisted torpedo system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was successfully launched from Wheeler Island in Odisha. The system is a missile-based standoff torpedo delivery system of the future generation. The missile’s full range capabilities were successfully proved throughout the flight. The technology was created to improve anti-submarine warfare capability much beyond the torpedo’s traditional range. A torpedo, a parachute delivery system, and release mechanisms were all carried by the missile. The innovative technologies used in this canister-based missile system include two-stage solid propulsion, electro-mechanical actuators, and precision inertial navigation.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) 

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), located in Delhi, India, is the principal agency within the Ministry of Defence’s Department of Defence Research and Development, which is responsible for the military’s research and development. The Technical Development Establishment and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production of the Indian Ordnance Factories merged with the Defence Science Organisation in 1958 to establish the Defence Science Organisation. DRDO is actively working on a number of torpedo designs. One of them is a lightweight torpedo that has been approved for manufacturing by the Navy.

About Supersonic Missile Assisted Torpedo System

  • It’s a missile-assisted launch of the lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) activities much beyond the range of torpedoes. It’s a missile system that uses canisters
  • The system is a missile-based standoff torpedo delivery system of the future generation
  • The technology was created to improve anti-submarine warfare capability much beyond the torpedo’s traditional range

Functioning Of The SMART

  • SMART takes off like a normal supersonic missile when launched from a warship or a truck-based coastal battery
  • With a two-way data link from the warship or an airborne submarine target detection system, it covers the majority of its flight in the air at lower altitudes and delivers the exact location of the hostile submarine to correct its flight path midway
  • The missile will eject the torpedo system into the water when it approaches the submerged submarine, and the autonomous torpedo will begin travelling towards its target to destroy the submarine
  • Torpedoes are self-propelled underwater weapons that can be launched from a submarine, a surface vessel, or an aeroplane and are designed to explode when they come into contact with the hulls of surface boats and submarines
  • Varunastra is the first indigenously built heavyweight ship to fire an anti-submarine torpedo

Significance Of The SMART

  • Enhances the country’s strategic marine capabilities
  • Huge development in anti-submarine warfare stand-off capability
  • Project 28, a class of anti-submarine warfare corvettes now in service with the Indian Navy, was approved in 2003. INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, INS Kiltan, and INS Kavaratti are among them
  • The Indian Navy’s Project 75 involves the construction of six Scorpene-class assault submarines (Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj, Vela, Vagir and Vagsheer)
  • At a cost of Rs. 43,000 crore, Project 75 India aims to build submarines in India that are equipped with state-of-the-art Air Independent Propulsion systems

Conclusion

For this advanced missile system, several DRDO laboratories developed diverse technologies. Various subsystems were developed and produced with the help of industry. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh thanked the teams engaged in the successful test of the supersonic missile assisted torpedo system, saying that the system’s creation is an excellent example of the country’s ability to develop futuristic defence technologies.

Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development, and Chairman of the DRDO, congratulated all those involved in the successful test. The system, he continued, will strengthen our Navy and foster self-reliance in defence by leveraging expertise and skills.