India’s High Endurance AUV Program Undergoes Developmental Trials

India’s DRDO has actually been evaluating a model of its High Stamina Autonomous Underwater Automobile (HEAUV) for over a year.

The initial surface area run of HEAUV was performed in March 2024 at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) which is additionally a developing companion. Lately in March 2025, HEAUV was efficiently evaluated in a lake. DRDO tweeted that “throughout the tests automobile characteristics was confirmed in both surface area and immersed problem with several keep up excellent efficiency of finders and interaction.”

DRDO’s Naval Scientific research & Technological Research Laboratory (NSTL) research laboratory is the designer of the 6 bunch HEAUV. Nearly 10 meters long and with a size of 1 meter, the AUV can dive to a deepness of 300 meters. HEAUV is developed for an endurance of approximately 15 days at a rate of 3 knots, with optimal rate being 8 knots. HEAUV is modular with convertible hauls for every objective.

HEAUV has a reduced power mobile X-band 360 ° monitoring radar by DRDO’s LRDE for ISR procedures for finding and tracking subsurface targets at routine periods. A specialized 45 bar stress ranked pole placed radome has actually additionally been created for the radar real estate, which additionally works as crash evasion radar. The interaction kinds consist of acoustic, UHF, C Band and satcom. A front looking finder along with a flank range finder are the key undersea sensing units, with the side check finder planned mostly for MCM procedures. Both finders are created by DRDO’s Naval Physical and Oceanographic Research Laboratory (NPOL). The significant element of the HEAUV is its range of batteries which powers all systems consisting of the propulsion system containing an electrical motor linked to composite props. DRDO’s Naval Products Lab (NMRL) is establishing a pill based hydrogen gas cell nuclear power plant which might be made use of in HEAUV in the future.

The Indian MoD had actually launched an Ask for Details in 2018 to obtain 8 HEAUVs for the Indian Navy for ASW, MCM and ISR procedures along with bathymetric and oceanographic information celebration. In 2023, an Expression of Passion (EoI) was launched, under the Make-II classification of India’s Support Purchase Treatment 2020, welcoming Indian business to create a HEAUV for the Indian Navy particularly for ASW. Nonetheless, the advancement of the DRDO HEAUV was well in progress already. It is anticipated that this HEAUV will certainly be the prime challenger for the Navy’s needs, without various other indigenously created HEAUV challenger. The Navy will ultimately acquire a minimum of 8 HEAUVs with the web need most likely to be also greater provided functional requirements.

While CSL is associated with the DRDO HEAUV job, competing shipyard GRSE is additionally aiming to indigenize a HEAUV-ASW by 2027 as component of the Indian MoD’s fifth Favorable Indigenisation Listing (PIL). Mazagon Docks (MDL) had actually additionally drifted an EoI in 2023 aiming to provide its very own HEAUV-ASW.

The ultimate induction of HEAUV will certainly be a pick-me-up for the Indian Navy which deals with an important absence of contemporary submarines as a result of hold-ups inprocurement programs HEAUV will certainly need substantial screening and sea tests prior to developing tests are finished which will certainly require time.

The Indian Navy is additionally continuing with its strategy to obtain 12 XLUUV under Make-1 plan. After the conclusion of usefulness research studies, the MoD reportedly approved the Navy’s prepare for making 100 bunch XLUUVs at a price of 2,500 cr (over $290 million) in 2024. The XLUUV will certainly have the ability to strike opponent submarines & ships, MCM & mine laying ability and can carry out monitoring. The developing procedure is anticipated to start with the choice of shipyards for which a tender will certainly be released in the coming days.

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