Kerala Minister of Industries visits DRDO's Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory in Kochi

Kerala Minister for Industries, P Rajeev visited the sole Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory in the state- Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) at Kochi on Saturday.

During the minister's visit, NPOL Director S Vijayan Pillai briefed him about the various research and development activities undertaken by the laboratory in the field of underwater surveillance systems and technologies. Rajeev was also apprised of the substantial number of collaborations NPOL had with various Industries in the state for the development of highly successful systems and products.

The minister visited the Acoustic tank facility at NPOL which is one of the largest such facilities in the world, equipped with state-of-the-art technology for evaluation of sensitive underwater sensors and systems. He also visited the Materials and Transducers Simulated Test Centre (MATS) facility, another unique centre and the only such facility in the Asia Pacific region capable of undertaking any static or dynamic measurement and calibration of materials meant for "Under the ocean" use.

The technological initiatives and products championed by NPOL towards fighting the Covid pandemic were also demonstrated to the minister.

Working of Ultraviolet based file disinfector system, quick thermal file disinfector system, and low-cost rapid hand held temperature probes, developed in-house at NPOL, was shown to Rajeev during his visit.

As per a release, licensing agreements between NPOL and the state PSU Keltron for 3 systems were signed. "These include: (1) The USHUS Simulator: a simulator for training naval personnel in the operation and maintenance of the submarine sonar suite USHUS, (2) UWACS Triton: an Underwater Communication System for ships and submarines, and (3) AIDSS: the Advanced Indigenous Distress Sonar System for submarines. All 3 systems were designed by NPOL, and realised via Keltron as the development partner. The LAToT (Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology) documents were handed over by Director NPOL to N Narayana Murthy, Chairman & Managing Director, Keltron," the release stated.

( With inputs from ANI )