The Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) is an Indian defence laboratory of the

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, head ...

(DRDO), located in

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

. Its main function is the research and development of underwater weapons and associated systems. NSTL is organized under DRDO's Directorate of Naval R&D. The present director of NSTL is Dr. Abraham Varughese and Director General(DG) is Dr Y. Sreenivas Rao, Distinguished Scientist .

History

NSTL was established on 20 August 1969 to undertake research and development of major naval systems and underwater weapons for the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

to make it self-reliant.

Areas of work

NSTL is involved in the design, development, testing, evaluation and productionization of underwater weapons and their associated weapon control systems. These include

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es, mines, decoys, targets, simulators, Fire Control Systems and weapon launchers. The lab is also involved in investigating

hydrodynamic In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in moti ...

parameters and structural design of surface and submerged naval platforms and in evolving design criteria through model studies and simulation. NSTL is also involved in developing Warship Technologies,

Stealth Technology Stealth technology, also termed low observable technology (LO technology), is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive and active electronic countermeasures. The term covers a range of military technology, methods used to make personnel ...

for ships and Hydro-dynamic research services. NSTL also develops specialized materials for Marine Applications, including materials for mitigation of

Radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

, IR, Magnetic, Acoustic and ELFE Signatures leading to stealthier platforms.

Facilities

NSTL is equipped with laboratories and Hydrodynamic research facilities including a High Speed Towing Tank (HSTT), a Cavitation Tunnel and a Wind Tunnel. They also have Acoustic, Shock, Noise and Vibration Test Facilities that are used to measure, study and analyze the mitigation of underwater noise generated by ships and submarines.

Projects and Products

* Maareech ATDS * High Endurance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle * Torpedoes ** Torpedo Advanced Light Shyena ** Advanced Light Weight Torpedo ** Varunastra HWT ** Shakti Thermal Torpedo ** Takshak Torpedo * Multi-Influence Ground Mine (MIGM)

High Endurance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HEAUV)

DRDO's NSTL in partnership with the

Cochin Shipyard Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) is the largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility in India. Cochin Shipyard is part of a line of maritime-related facilities in the port-city of Kochi, in the States and union territories of India, state of Kerala, ...

is developing the HEAUV

autonomous underwater vehicle An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a robot that travels underwater without requiring continuous input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification tha ...

. The HEAUV, first reported in 2024, is undergoing multiple trials. The vehicle has a weight of , length of around and diameter of . As for the performance, it has a maximum depth of , endurance of 15 days at an economical speed of and a maximum speed of . It can be mounted with swappable mission-specific payloads. The equipment include:– *

X band The X band is the designation for a band of frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is set at approximately 7.0–11.2&nbs ...

360° surveillance radar for

Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance ISTAR stands for Military intelligence, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, #ISTAR, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employ ...

(ISR) operations, developed by LRDE. * -rated mast mounted

radome A radome (a portmanteau of "radar" and "dome") is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna (radio), antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weathe ...

to house collision avoidance radar. * Communication systems (including acoustic,

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

, C band, SATCOM). * Front and flank array sonars as primary underwater sensors, side-scan sonars for mine countermeasure (MCM) operations developed by NPOL. * Array of batteries for propulsion system which includes electric motors connected to composite propellers. * Capsule-based

hydrogen fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...

power plant (under development by NMRL. In the first week of March 2024, the maiden surface trials of the HEAUV was conducted by DRDO and CSL at the International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF) Jetty in Kochi. All the system parameters were met during the trials. In late March 2025, DRDO conducted Lake Trials of the HEAUV during which vehicle dynamics, in both submerged and surfaced conditions, was tested successfully along with its Sonar and Communications suite. In 2018, the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

had released a

Request for Information A request for information (RFI) is a common business process whose purpose is to collect written information about the capabilities of various suppliers. Normally it follows a format that can be used for comparative purposes. An RFI is primarily ...

(RFI) for the acquisition of eight HEAUVs for

's ASW, ISR and MCM operations as well as bathymetric and

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

data gathering. Further, an Expression of Interest (EoI) was released to invite Indian companies to develop an HEAUV for just ASW operations. As of now,

GRSE Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd, abbreviated as GRSE, is one of India's leading Defense industry, defence shipyards, located in Kolkata. It builds and repairs merchant shipping, commercial and warship, naval vessels. GRSE also expor ...

is also developing HEAUV-ASW expected to completed by 2027 along with its Neerakshi AUV. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders also released an EoI for HEAUV-ASW development in 2023. = Multi-Influence Ground Mine (MIGM) = Multi-Influence Ground Mine (MIGM) is a tactical

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

developed for the Indian Navy by NSTL in collaboration with HEMRL and TBRL as well as Bharat Dynamics Limited and Apollo Microsystems Limited as the production agency. The system is designed to counter stealth surface ships and submarines by detecting their various influences such as acoustic,

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, m ...

and pressure signatures. On 5 May 2025, DRDO successfully undertook the combat firing (with reduced explosive) of the mine.

References

https://www.drdo.gov.in/labs-establishment/director/naval-science-technological-laboratory-nstl

External links

{{coord missing, Andhra Pradesh Defence Research and Development Organisation laboratories Research institutes in Andhra Pradesh Research and development in India Education in Visakhapatnam 1969 establishments in Andhra Pradesh Research institutes established in 1969