The Indian Navy will soon receive the first tranche of indigenously-built heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo Varunastra, which is likely to add more firepower to India’s marine defence capabilities. According to reports, the first tranche of torpedo Varunastra, which has been developed by the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a premier laboratory of the DRDO, will be handed over to the Indian navy within four months.
Its formal induction into the Indian Navy will catapult India into the elite club of eight countries possessing the capability to design and build such a naval defence system. The heavyweight torpedo Varunastra is a ship-launched, electrically-propelled underwater weapon equipped with one of the most advanced automatic and remote-controlled guidance systems.
The weapon system uses its own intelligence in tracking the target. Capable of hitting stealth submarines underwater, the 1,500-kg Varunastra can carry a warhead weighing 250 kg and has an operational range of 40 km. The anti-submarine electric torpedo is seven to eight metres long with a diameter of 533 mm.
