Previous Year Question
Which one of the following is the best description of ‘INS Astradharini’, which was in the news recently?
Amphibious warfare ship
Nuclear-powered submarine
Torpedo launch and recovery vessel
Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
INS Astradharini is an indigenously designed and built Torpedo Launch and Recovery Vessel—TLRV of the Indian Navy. It was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 6 October 2015 at the Naval Base in Visakhapatnam.
The vessel’s principal function is to support the technical trials of indigenous torpedoes and other underwater weapons. It can launch a torpedo, monitor its trajectory and performance during a trial and recover it from the sea after the test is completed.
INS Astradharini employs a catamaran-hull design. It consists of two parallel hulls that provide greater stability at sea, a larger deck area and the working space required for torpedo-handling operations.
It is equipped with torpedo launchers, recovery equipment, specialised winches and test-and-evaluation instruments. The vessel’s design was developed with the involvement of DRDO’s Naval Science and Technological Laboratory—NSTL, while it was constructed by Shoft Shipyard.
INS Astradharini replaced the older Torpedo Recovery Vessel INS Astravahini, which was decommissioned in July 2015 after approximately 31 years of service. Astradharini is neither an amphibious warfare ship, a nuclear-powered submarine nor a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.