Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory

Coordinates: 10°01′34″N 76°20′02″E / 10.026°N 76.334°E / 10.026; 76.334
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory
Established1958
DRDO
Website[1]

The Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory or NPOL is a

Thrikkakara, Kochi, Kerala. NPOL is responsible for the Research & Development of sonar systems, technologies for underwater surveillance, study of ocean environment and underwater materials.[1]

History

The Indian Naval Physical Laboratory (INPL) was established in

Kochi
by Indian Navy in 1952. It worked initially as a field laboratory for fleet support activities. It was merged with DRDO in 1958 and started working on underwater systems. INPL was rechristened as Naval Physical Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL).

Till 1990, NPOL functioned from within the Naval Base in Kochi. In 1990, it moved into a new 60-acre (240,000 m2) campus at Thrikkakara, a suburb of Kochi. The new campus has a main technical complex and two residential complexes - SAGAR and VARUNA. The technical complex houses the main building, Abhinavam building and several test facilities including an acoustic tank. Besides the campus in Thrikkakara, NPOL has an offsite setup of underwater acoustic research facility at

INS Sagardhwani
, a 2000-ton Oceanographic research vessel used for oceanographic data collection.

Areas of work

NPOL is developing a technology called seabed arrays that will be laid over the seabed surface for ocean surveillance which will provide measurements and inform the control centre about the happenings underneath through satellite. DRDO is planning a dedicated satellite for the coastal surveillance system.

All the future inductions planned by the Indian Navy are to be fitted with NPOL designed sonars. The sonars under development are HUMSA NG (upgrade of the HUMSA sonar), the submarine sonars USHUS (for the Sindhugosh class) and PAYAL for the Arihant class.[1]

Underwater acoustics is another area which NPOL is looking at. The Physical Oceanographic conditions which will decide the propagation of the sound waves inside water is studied with the help of DRDO's Research Vessel INS Sagardhwani and in-house developed Ocean models. Different Sonar Range Prediction models are also developed by NPOL in the recent years which are used by Indian Navy.[2][3]

On 29 October 2024, NPOL placed an order for a new Acoustic Research Ship (ARS) with the

sonobuoys as well as gather data from them. The ship will be able to conduct acoustic system experiments at various speed regimes while remaining silent due to its broad speed range. The ARS will also be equipped with a dynamic positioning mechanism that will enable it to hold its place until Sea State 4.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "DRDO gets it right when it's unlike DRDO". Indian Express. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  2. ^ "DRDO to develop unmanned underwater vehicles". The Hindu. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  3. ^ M. Somasekhar (6 February 2008). "DRDO plans satellite-based coastal surveillance system". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  4. ^ "GRSE secures Rs 491 crore contract from NPOL for Acoustic Research Vessel". www.psuconnect.in. Retrieved 31 October 2024.

10°01′34″N 76°20′02″E / 10.026°N 76.334°E / 10.026; 76.334


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