New Delhi. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar handed over four Naval Systems developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to the Indian Navy at a special ceremony in New Delhi November 18.
The four indigenously developed naval systems viz. ABHAY, HUMSA UG, NACS and AIDSS which will boost underwater surveillance capability of the Indian Navy, were formally handed over to the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Sunil Lanba by the Minister.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Parrikar complimented the DRDO and the Navy for their successful joint venture in developing several naval systems, which will provide a fillip to the quest for self-reliance in this critical area of technology. “I expect much more synergy between the Armed Forces and DRDO in the days to come”, he said.
He extended his appreciation to DRDO for its achievements in the last two years particularly in the induction of LCA Tejas, Varunastra Torpedo, Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher, Rustom – II UAV and several missile programmes.
The Defence Minister said, “Skill development is one of the most important aspects of nation building because unless we have certified skilled manpower, projects like ‘Make in India’ would not succeed.”
He expressed happiness that the Indian Navy has taken the lead by imparting training to a large contingent of retiring naval personnel and giving them certificates. He said that the only way to make the nation’s large pool of youth and manpower suitable for the emerging industry and business opportunities is by skilling them to take up specialized jobs.
Addressing the gathering, Minister of State (MoS) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy said skill initiative programme is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said the credit of pulling along the skill ecosystem in the Indian Armed Forces should goes to the Defence Minister. Mr Rudy said the Defence Minister is not only involved in the skilling process technically but also socially as he has created a new pathway about the programme in the Armed Forces.
The four naval systems, ABHAY – Compact Hull Mounted SONAR for Shallow Water Crafts, HUMSA UG – Upgrade for the HUMSA SONAR System, NACS – Near-field Acoustic Characterisation System, and AIDSS – Advanced Indigenous Distress SONAR System for submarines have been designed and developed by National Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), a Kochi based laboratory of DRDO.
ABHAY is an advanced Active-cum-Passive integrated SONAR system designed and developed for the smaller platforms such as shallow water crafts and coastal surveillance/patrol vessels. HUMSA-UG has been designed for upgrading the existing HUMSA SONAR system of the Indian Naval platforms.
NACS determines the in-situ performance of the SONAR systems which are used to find the frequency-dependent 3-D transmission and reception characteristics of the SONAR. It is also used to measure the magnitude and phase characteristics of the SONAR transmission and reception electronics and the transducers. AIDSS, a distress SONAR is an Emergency Sound Signalling Device which is used to indicate that a submarine is in distress and enable quick rescue and salvage.
The Navy Chief and Secretary Department of Defence (R&D) & Chairman, DRDO Dr S Christopher also addressed the function. The Defence Minister and MoS for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship jointly distributed Skill Certificates and Placement Letters to retiring Navy personnel.
Among others, the function was attended by Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister (SA to RM) Dr G Satheesh Reddy; Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajesh Aggarwal and Director, NPOL S Kedarnath Shenoy.
