In a significant boost to the Indian Navy’s (IN) capabilities, the Navy will get autonomous armed Swarm boats from Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt Ltd, the company tweeted.

The contract was signed under the SPRINT programme, which is “a scheme to promote niche defence technologies by Indian domestic companies”.

SPRINT stands for “Supporting Pole-Vaulting In Research and Development through Innovations for Defence Excellence (IdeX), Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) and Technology Development Acceleration cell (TDAC)”. 

The scheme was launched in July 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Under the SPRINT scheme, the Navy is targeting to ink 100 contracts by the end of January 2023 and to induct 75 technologies by 15 August this year. The swarm boat contract is the 50th such contract signed by the Indian Navy. 

The Navy is looking to place another order of 12 systems after the construction of the weaponised boat, the agreement stated.

The platform is capable of doing high-speed interdiction, low-intensity maritime operations, Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4-ISR) missions. 

Sagar Defence Engineering in a statement said, “they have the know-how to create the nation’s first armed autonomous unmanned boat with swarming capabilities”.