Defence Minister Parrikar hands over torpedo "Varunastra" to Indian Navy

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar handed over "Varunastra", a Ship Launched Heavy Weight Torpedo", to the Indian Navy here on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Parrikar congratulated DRDO for the achievement and appreciated the efforts made in this regard.

He asked the DRDO to ensure its participation in the production process and to keep adequate quality control of their products so that it can meet the international standards.

The Defence Minister also stated that in these high technology areas, DRDO's contribution, with 95 per cent of indigenous content, is an apt example of Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) category.

Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba termed the occasion as momentous and described it as yet another feather in the DRDO's cap.

He lauded DRDO and Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) for rendering yeomen service to the nation in achieving self-reliance in defence and underwater technologies.

Varunastra has been developed by NSTL, a premier DRDO laboratory based at Visakhapatnam. M/s Bharat Dynamics Ltd has been associated as a production partner in concurrent engineering mode.

Varunastra, a versatile naval weapon which can be fired from the Rajput class destroyers, Delhi class and all future Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) ships capable of firing heavy weight torpedoes and is capable of targeting quiet and stealthy submarines both in deep and littoral waters even in intense countermeasure atmosphere.

The function was also attended by Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar, Secretary, (Defence Production) AK Gupta, Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri Dr. G Sateesh Reddy and senior functionaries of Ministry of Defence, Indian Navy, DRDO, Production and Industry partners.