The Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam, of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully developed a new generation of man-portable autonomous underwater vehicles (MP-AUVs) for mine countermeasure missions.
According to the defence ministry, the system consists of multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) fitted with Side Scan Sonar and underwater cameras as their primary payloads, enabling real-time detection and classification of mine-like objects.
These MP-AUVs are enabled by onboard deep-learning-based target recognition algorithms that autonomously identify targets, significantly cutting down operator workload and overall mission duration.
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A robust underwater acoustic communication network has also been incorporated, allowing seamless data exchange between AUVs during missions and providing greater situational awareness.
The defence ministry added that recent field trials conducted at NSTL/Harbour have successfully demonstrated all key system parameters and validated critical mission objectives. With contributions from several industry partners, the system is expected to be ready for production within the next few months.
Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Samir V. Kamat hailed the development as a major milestone towards a deployable, intelligent, and networked mine countermeasure solution. It offers rapid response capability with reduced operational risk and logistic footprint for naval mine warfare applications, he added.
