Techno Centre-RUAS and NSTL-DRDO Jointly Awarded Multiple International Patents for Naval Innovation

Techno Centre-RUAS, in collaboration with the Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a key establishment of DRDO, has been jointly awarded multiple patents from India, Russia, and South Africa. These significant intellectual property recognitions highlight the innovative capabilities stemming from this strategic partnership.

These patents pertain to the Article Handling System (AHS), a groundbreaking product developed by the Techno Centre team. The AHS is specifically designed to address critical challenges in the ship-based launching process of the indigenous Advanced Lightweight Torpedo (ALWT), currently under development by NSTL-DRDO. The ALWT is engineered for deployment from various naval platforms, including ships, submarines, and helicopters.

Traditionally, the manual loading of torpedoes into their launchers on surface vessels carries a high risk of damaging the torpedo's hydrodynamic surface due to inconsistent handling. Furthermore, performing this operation at sea is exceptionally challenging because of vessel motions like rolling and pitching. The AHS effectively overcomes these obstacles, enabling reliable torpedo loading even in rough sea states. This innovation drastically reduces operational manpower, allowing 3 to 4 sea trials to be conducted with only 1 to 2 personnel, a significant improvement over the previous requirement of at least 8 personnel for a single trial.

The AHS boasts a truly unique design, distinguishing it from any commercially available material handling systems. It incorporates multiple degrees of freedom, ensuring precise and efficient alignment and loading of the torpedo into the launcher.

At Techno Centre, the team undertook the complete lifecycle of product design, engineering design, structural analysis, optimization, and product development. This included rigorous military/naval-grade certification testing in accordance with JSS 55555 standards. The Techno Centre team also had the distinct privilege of witnessing a successful torpedo firing using their equipment from the Torpedo Launch and Recovery Vessel, INS Astradharini.