The Indian Navy and Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt Ltd have signed an agreement for the acquisition of armed autonomous boat swarms as part of the ‘SPRINT’ initiative, which promotes the use of indigenous defence technologies by domestic companies.
A 50th SPRINT contract between iDEX and Sagar Defence for autonomous weaponised boat swarms for the Indian Navy has been signed. Developing this technology is among the 75 challenges introduced last year by the Indian Navy under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
In total, 50 contracts have been signed under ‘SPRINT’. According to reports, Sagar Defence Engineering possesses the skills to develop this country’s first armed autonomous unmanned boat with swarming capabilities. First autonomous weaponized unmanned boat developed by Sagar Defence is capable of swarming. Under the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 7) SPRINT initiative, the contract was signed under a Navy project.
SPRINT is an Indian Navy project of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 7) and the Indian Navy expects to order 12 systems after the weaponised unmanned boat is constructed,” the company explained. The Autonomous Weaponised Boats were developed in collaboration with Sagar Defence Engineering, a private start-up.
It can be mounted with a machine gun for insurgence operations if it relies on a video feed to the ground control station for surveillance and patrolling. With a maximum speed of 10 nautical miles/hour, the autonomous weaponised boats can sail for about four hours. In order to facilitate easier and safer unmanned marine surface vehicles, vessel command control, navigation instruments, and telemetry systems, Sagar Defence has created “Boat in a Box”.
About iDEX
By engaging innovators and entrepreneurs, iDEX aims to create an ecosystem for innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by delivering technologically advanced solutions to India’s armed forces. The objective of iDEX is to engage industries including MSMEs, Startups, individual innovators, R&D institutes, and academia to provide them with funding and support to carry out R&D development.