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Niche technologies are being progressed across the spectrum, including blue-green lasers for underwater applications; Autonomous weaponised swarms, Underwater swarm drones and more

NEW DELHI: Taking forward the goal of expanding the profile of indigenously developed technology, the Indian Navy is prepared to induct 118 such technologies and products soon. The announcement of this will be done during the 2nd Edition of the Indian Navy’s Naval Innovation and Indigenisation (NIIO) Seminar – ‘Swavlamban 2023’ scheduled to be conducted on 04 – 05 Oct 2023.

The Navy on Monday said that after a detailed examination, 113 winners under the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC) 7 SPRINT and 5 winners in the DISC 7 SPRINT-PRIME category were declared.

Grants up to 1.5 crore and up to 10 crore respectively will be provided to each category, and the development of prototypes is being progressed by all the winners, Navy added.

The conclusion of over 100 developmental agreements between Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and industry was achieved, with active engagement of the Indian Navy, iDEX and start-ups/ MSMEs.

This collaborative project is named SPRINT {Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), NIIO and Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC)}.

Niche technologies are being progressed across the spectrum, including blue-green lasers for underwater applications; Autonomous weaponised swarms and Underwater swarm drones; multiple fire fighting aids; introduction of Artificial Intelligence (Al) for various uses and the development of an ultra-endurance small drone for maritime missions.

It was during the first edition of the Swalamban seminar, held in July 2022, Prime Minister launched the 75 challenges for the start-ups/ MSMEs as a part of the 'SPRINT' initiative. During the seminar, it is proposed to showcase these 75 prototypes, including a live demo of a few promising technologies.

The ‘SPRINT Challenges’, are aimed at giving a boost to the usage of indigenous technology in the Indian Navy, and the Navy is committed to developing at least 75 technologies/ products as part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

SPRINT is a collaborative initiative being undertaken in conjunction with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) and stands for Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), NIIO and Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC). This initiative has received an overwhelming response with 1106 proposals.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled ‘SPRINT Challenges’, aimed at giving a boost to the usage of indigenous technology in the Indian Navy. Aiming to achieve self-reliance in defence and as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, NIIO, in conjunction with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), aimed to induct at least 75 new indigenous technologies/products into the Indian Navy.

Few Technologies/Products Being Inducted:

1. Carbon Nano Tubes/Aerogel-based fabrics with multiple usages including camouflage against IR cameras
2. Portable RCS Measuring Device capable of independent operation and enabling measures against anti-missile defence
3. Monolithic lens providing unparalleled magnification
4. AI-based barrel crawling bot for damage prognosis & health monitoring of gun barrels, rocket launchers and torpedo tubes