Varunastra, the heavyweight torpedo, was handed over to the Indian Navy on Friday at the DefExpo 2020 being held in Lucknow, UP. Rajnath Singh handed over Varunastra to Commander-in-Chief (West) Vice-Admiral P Ajit Kumar at the Defexpo. Varunastra, developed by NSTL (Naval Science and Technology Laboratory), DRDO, will be manufactured by BDL at its Visakhapatnam unit.

The underwater weapon is an advanced heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo with variable speed facility at 20 and 40 Knots and is capable of successfully targeting quiet, anechoic submarines operating in shallow and deep waters in an intense acoustic countermeasure environment. The torpedo can be launched from all major class of ships which are in service. Commodore Siddharth Mishra said the BDL was also offering Varunastra for export to friendly foreign countries.

Agencies