SOURCE: AFI
The Indian Navy is setting its sights on acquiring Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs) to bolster its underwater surveillance and data collection capabilities. These unmanned catamaran platforms, electrically powered for silent operation, offer a significant advantage in safeguarding India’s maritime interests.
Sagar Design, a leading Indian defense contractor, has developed a state-of-the- art ASV that has successfully undergone rigorous trials. This catamaran design ensures exceptional stability while traversing water bodies, making it an ideal platform for various missions.
The Sagar-designed ASV is equipped with advanced sonar technology, enabling it to autonomously detect and survey underwater objects. Additionally, it boasts high-bandwidth RF communication systems, facilitating real-time data transmission for monitoring, validation, navigation, and control. The ASV seamlessly integrates these features, allowing for both autonomous and operator-controlled missions.
The successful trials encompassed multiple deployment and retrieval cycles, towing the ASV at varying speeds, and transmitting data at different power levels. These trials underscore the viability and effectiveness of ASVs for maritime operations.
In recent years, the use of autonomous and unmanned vehicles has gained significant traction within the maritime survey community. ASVs are particularly attractive for data collection in shallow waters inaccessible to manned vessels and hazardous environments.
The Indian Navy’s envisioned ASVs will likely be equipped with a robust navigation system using GPS, along with Radio Frequency (RF) communication for data transmission. Sensor integration will encompass hydrophones for underwater sound detection, a single-beam echo sounder for measuring water depth, and a multibeam sonar for creating detailed underwater maps.