Team Herald
PANJIM: A huge bow mounted sonar dome, designed and developed by Research & Development Establishment (Engineers) [R&DE(E)], a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory based in Pune, will be flagged off by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in Goa today.
Dr S Christopher, Secretary Department of Defence (R&D) & Director General, DRDO will also be present at the ceremony that will be held on the sidelines of the Defexpo at Quitol in Goa.
The sonar dome will be delivered to Mazgaon Docks, Mumbai, an official press release said.
According to the release, the sonar dome, a first of its kind in the country, has been manufactured by a composites manufacturing company in India.
“This is a huge contribution by Indian Industry to the ‘Make in India’ movement. Only a couple of companies worldwide have the capability of realising such structures,” it said.
All anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ships have a sonar array fitted to the ship structure below the waterline. The sonar functions as the ship’s underwater eyes and ears. The sonar dome is a structure fitted over the sonar array so that its electronics and sensors are not exposed to surrounding hostile environment. The sonar dome has to be structurally sound as well as acoustically transparent, it said.
The release said R&DE(E), DRDO, Pune had successfully developed process technologies to realise large composite structures that can be used in naval ships and submarines.
The laboratory has also developed technologies related to integral composite armour that can be used in combat vehicles. The laboratory is also significantly contributing in development of aerospace structures.
NPOL, a DRDO laboratory at Kochi in Kerala, played a significant role in development of the sonar dome, it said.
