New Delhi: In a step aimed at keeping warships supplied with emergency items at sea, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy jointly conducted four successful in-flight release trials of the indigenous Air Droppable Container ‘ADC-150’ from the P8I aircraft off the coast of Goa recently.
The trials were conducted at different extreme release conditions, the Ministry of Defence said.
“ADC-150 is indigenously designed and developed to deliver a 150 kg payload. It enhances the naval operational logistics c
apabilities for providing quick response to naval vessels under distress, needing critical stores/equipment, medical assistance at blue sea, when deployed far from the coast,” the MoD said in a statement.
While the Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam is the nodal laboratory for the activity. Aerial Delivery Research & Development Establishment (ADRDE), Agra developed the parachute system and Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CMAC), Bengaluru provided the flight clearance and certification. Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDO), Hyderabad, provided the instrumentation support for the trials.
“To meet the requirement of the Indian Navy, the ADC-150 system for the P8I aircraft was developed and qualified in a short timeframe,” the statement said.
As all the developmental flight trials have been completed successfully, the system is expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy soon.