WHAT IS VARUNASTRA?
The Varunastra is an Indian advanced heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo, developed by the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation for the Indian Navy. It is named after a legendary weapon created by the Hindu god of the oceans, Varuna.
Hyderabad: Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) on Saturday delivered the first Varunastra, a heavyweight torpedo, to the Indian Navy. Department of Defence R&D secretary and chairman of the DRDO Dr. G Sateesh Reddy flagged off the delivery of the Varunastra at a ceremony held at BDL, Visakhapatnam Unit on Saturday.
Varunastra or the Heavy Weight Torpedo has been designed and developed by NSTL (Naval Science and Technological Laboratory), Visakhapatnam. BDL is manufacturing the torpedo at its Visakhapatnam unit for the Indian Navy. This product is also being offered for export.
BDL is associated with DRDO for its various Missile Programmes. BDL is the production agency for Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM), for which, trials were conducted successfully recently.
BDL is also the Production Agency for Astra Air-to-Air Missile System and has commenced manufacturing. The missile system will be fully indigenous and has been developed by the DRDO for the Indian Air Force.
Sateesh also laid the foundation for setting up state-of-the-art Central Stores at BDL, Visakhapatnam. Project director, a shipbuilding center, Vice Admiral K Srinivas, Dr. Samir V Kamat, Distinguished Scientist, and Director General, Naval Systems & Materials (NS&M), DRDO, Dr. OR Nandagopan, Outstanding Scientist & Director, NSTL were among those present.
