Indian Navy successfully carried out testing of Sahayak Air Droppable Containers, developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam in collaboration with Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), Agra. The containers can be air-dropped to enhance Navy’s operational logistics capability at sea. With capacity of up to 50 kg, these containers can carry spares for ships up to 2000 km away from the coast.


The trials were undertaken into the Arabian Sea on 8 January 2019 from an IL-38 aircraft off the coast of Goa. A test payload of 50 kg was dropped in the container, which descended to the sea with the help of a parachute. Speaking after the trials, a naval spokesperson said: The containers would reduce the requirement of ships to be close to the coast for collecting spares and stores, thereby increasing the duration of their deployment. The Sahayak containers would enhance navy’s operational logistics capability.

“Sahayak is a lightweight air droppable container fitted with a parachute system designed to carry critical engineering stores up to 50 kg for distressed Indian naval ships at mid sea. It is dropped from a fixed wing aircraft near the vicinity of the ship in sea” he further added. The GFRP containers are designed to withstand water entry shocks and are completely water tight.

The parachute system helps to control the rate of descent of the container. This system has P4M Pyro Cutter Mechanism, designed and developed by NSTL, for separation of pilot parachute from main parachute. With the success of these trials, series production of Sahayak containers and parachutes would be undertaken The product has high export potential.

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