The Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar handed over Varunastra – a ship-launched heavyweight torpedo, also known as underwater missile to the Indian Navy in a befitting ceremony in New Delhi on June 29, 2016.

Speaking on the occasion Manohar Parrikar congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation (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 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.

The 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 applauded DRDO and Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) for rendering yeomen service to the nation in achieving self-reliance in defence and underwater technologies. He said the Navy’s partnership with DRDO laboratories has strengthened and matured over the years. “The fact that three of the premier DRDO labs—NPOL, NMRL and NSTL—carry the prefix ‘Naval’ in their names highlights the close relationship between the Indian Navy and the DRDO in our joint efforts,” Admiral Lanba stated.

Secretary, DD R&D and DG DRDO Dr S. Christopher in his address described the induction ceremony of Varunastra as a proud moment for the nation as India has joined in the elite group of only a handful of countries. He commented that the development of submarine launched heavyweight torpedo is in advanced stage for user trials. Dr. Christopher mentioned that Varunastra, the ship-borne anti-submarine torpedo has got the goodwill of Navy as a user which has decided to produce 73 of them, immediately. He briefly mentioned that last year Mareech advance torpedo defence system, was handed over to Indian Navy. He also highlighted the DRDO developed LCA Tejas, the first squadron of which is being raised by IAF on July 1, 2016. The AEW&C is also striding towards induction into IAF this year. Recently, another milestone has been achieved by BrahMos, a joint venture of DRDO which successfully demonstrated captive trials with Su-30 aircraft, he stated.

Varunastra has been developed by NSTL, a premier DRDO laboratory based at Visakhapatnam. The 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 heavyweight 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) A.K. Gupta, Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri Dr G. Sateesh Reddy and senior functionaries of the Ministry of Defence, Indian Navy, DRDO, Production & Industry partners.