The development of India’s naval defence capabilities has received a fillip with the inauguration of an Acoustic Tank Test Facility by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) at Visakhapatnam, reports The New Indian Express.

The purpose of this new facility, launched on Friday (25 January), is to test acoustic systems of underwater weaponry such as torpedoes, mines, decoys and sonobuoys, which are produced solely by BDL’s Visakhapatnam unit.

On the occasion, Secretary for Defence Production, Dr Ajay Kumar, was briefed on other naval defence products manufactured by the same BDL unit. Others present included Naval Science and Technology Laboratory (NSTL) Director Dr O R Nanda Gopan, BDL Director (Finance) S Piramanayagam and Director (Technical) N P Diwakar.

Officials said the facility, being an onsite testing location, would help spur overall weapons manufacturing.

“The acoustics systems of the underwater weaponry are required to be tested and calibrated in a water environment prior to their deployment in actual sea waters,” the officials said. The new on-site test facility enhances manufacturing capabilities manifold and opens up opportunities for handling multiple projects simultaneously,” they added.

The new facility also comes at a time when BDL is on a global expansion drive, offering torpedoes, anti-tank guided missiles, counter-measure dispensing systems among others to countries friendly to India.