In NEW DELHI: After the monsoon, the Indian Navy intends to test its homegrown Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV). This will be added to the native systems that the Navy is implementing with the assistance of domestic organisations.”The first test of the USV will be post-monsoon, somewhere between September and November when the vessel will sail from Goa to Mumbai,” a defence source stated. According to insiders, it will initially test the fundamental parameters.

When the Ukrainian navy attacked the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula, in October 2022, these USVs, sometimes known as drone boats, attracted notice during the Ukraine crisis. Seven unmanned surface boats (USVs) that were loaded with ammunition and missiles had been dispatched. Two more strikes on Russian assets were launched later, in March and April. Even though the Russian Navy foiled all three attempts, they were enough to let everyone know that USVs had arrived.

Naval Unmanned Aerial Systems (NUAS) and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are two more unmanned systems that the marine forces of the US, UK, China, and France are developing.Three types of Software-Defined Radios (SDRs) — SDR NC, SDR-Tac (tactical), and SDR-NG — have been conceived and produced domestically by the Navy’s Weapons and Electronics Systems Engineering Establishment. A fourth type is now being development and is anticipated to enter testing by the end of the current year.

All Navy warships have the SDR Naval Combat installed, and it is allegedly working properly. In 2021, the Navy and Bharat Electronics Limited signed into a contract for the purchase of this item. The transaction is valued more than Rs 1,000 crore.The SDR-Tac is a ship-borne, software-defined radio system with four channels, multiple modes, and multiple bands. Rear Admiral Ankur Sharma, the director general of the WESSE, stated: “It is designed to support voice-data communication for network-centric operations between ships, ships and shores, and ships and aircraft.

After the monsoon, a domestic unmanned surface vessel will go from Goa to Mumbai. It will initially test the fundamental settings. When the Ukrainian Navy attacked the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet last year, USVs attracted attention. The USVs were loaded down with weapons. Even though Russia was able to rebuff the attacks, they were sufficient to reveal the presence of USVs.