“Varunastra” inducted in the Indian Navy

हैवीवेट ऐंटी सबमरीन टॉरपीडो-वरुणास्त्र

Question: Recently Indigenously developed heavyweight torpedo Varunastra was inducted in the Indian Navy. It is a-
(a)Anti Ballistic Missile
(b)Anti Ship Missile
(c)Anti-Submarine Missile
(d)None of these
Ans: (c)
Related facts:

  • On 29 June 2016 the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar handed over “Varunastra – a Ship Launched Heavy Weight Torpedo”, also known as underwater missile to the Indian Navy in a befitting ceremony held at New Delhi.
  • It weigh about 1.25 tonnes, can carry around 250 kg of explosives at a speed of 40 nautical miles an hour.
  • Varunastra, a versatile naval weapon which can be fired from the Rajput class destroyers, Delhi class and all future Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) ships capable of firing heavy weight torpedoes.
  • Varunastra has been developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a premier DRDO laboratory based at Visakhapatnam. M/s Bharat Dynamics Ltd has been associated as a production partner in concurrent engineering mode.
  • It is capable of targeting quiet and stealthy submarines both in deep and littoral waters even in intense countermeasure atmosphere.

Reference:
http://www.indiannavy.nic.in/content/honble-rm-hands-over-varunastra-indian-navy
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=146647