In a major stride towards strengthening India’s naval research and self-reliance, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) on Wednesday laid the keel for a 93-metre advanced acoustic research ship (ARS) being built for the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL)—a premier unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The keel-laying ceremony, marking the formal beginning of the ship’s construction, took place at GRSE’s Kolkata yard in the presence of Dr Sameer V. Kamat, Secretary of the Department of Defence (R&D) and Chairman of DRDO. Senior officials from the Navy, DRDO, and GRSE also attended the event.
As per the official announcement, the ship will serve as a "state-of-the-art research platform" equipped with advanced sonar, survey, and acoustic systems. Designed to support research in underwater acoustics, sonar calibration, and oceanographic data collection, the vessel will be capable of carrying out high-resolution sound-velocity profiling, underwater noise analysis, and current measurement surveys.
The ARS will be 93 metres long and 18 metres wide, with a diesel-electric propulsion system allowing operations at speeds between 4 and 12 knots, endurance of 30 days, and a range of 4,500 nautical miles per mission. It will house around 120 personnel and come equipped with dynamic positioning capability up to Sea State 4, enabling precise station-keeping during research operations.
Officials described the ship as "acoustically silent," engineered to minimise underwater noise and provide a clean, interference-free environment for acoustic data collection. This is the first ship of its class, developed under India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and a continuation of GRSE’s legacy in building advanced research and survey vessels, including the INS Sagardhwani, launched in 1994.
GRSE’s contract to build this research ship was signed with DRDO in October 2024, and construction is progressing on schedule. The vessel is expected to enhance India’s capabilities in underwater surveillance, anti-submarine warfare research, and ocean environment estimation—fields that are increasingly critical in modern naval strategy.