India to soon deploy underwater drones in Indian Ocean region, South China Sea

In order to bolster the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has begun a preliminary process that can develop into acquiring autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) or underwater drones with twin surveillance and strike capabilities. According to Government sources, the Navy is open to both indigenous and foreign-origin AUVs even as senior officials are aware that “it will take a long time” for Indian-made underwater drones to be available for military purposes. The UAV industry in India, nascent now, has already begun taking the first steps to fulfil the Navy’s objectives.The need for underwater drones arose when the Navy found to its consternation three years ago that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) “was routinely using AUVs right within Indian territorial waters” and in the wider IOR. India’s lone submarine rescue vessel Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel is equipped with a drone which is used for underwater searches and for “recording ambient noises” on ocean beds.