Indian Navy ‘SPRINT Challenges’

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The “SPRINT Challenges” was launched by Prime Minister and unveiled for the Indian Navy during the Swavlamban seminar in New Delhi.

The seminar was organised by “Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO)”.

What is SPRINT Challenge?

• SPRINT Challenges were launched to increase the usage of indigenous technology in the Indian Navy.
• NIIO have planned to achieve ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence. 
  • Thus, it has aimed to launch 75 new indigenous technologies or products in the Indian Navy in collaboration with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO).
• NIIO-DIO collaborative project has been named SPRINT, which stands for “Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), NIIO and Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC)”.

Efforts were taken by the Navy for Indigenisation.

• Indian Naval Indigenisation Plan (INIP) 2015-2030
  • In 2014 Navy promulgated the Indian Navy Indigenisation Plan (INIP) 2015-2030 to enable the indigenous development of equipment and system. 
  • The Navy has indigenised around 3400 items under INIP, including over 2000 machinery and electrical spares, over 1000 aviation spares, and over 250 weapon spares.
• Collaboration with Major Agencies 
  • DRDO: DRDO undertakes the development of Weapons and sensors, which are complex and in the hard-to-get technology domains.
  • Public Sector Undertakings: PSUs are the production partners for the DRDO. 
    • They also undertake indigenisation of some equipment independently and receive Transfer of Technology (ToT) from the foreign “Original Equipment Manufacturer” (OEM).
  • Ordnance Factory Board (OFB): Indigenisation of ordnance delivery systems (guns, fuzes, rocket launchers, etc.) is undertaken by OFBs. 
    • They also become the ToT partner for the imported systems.
• Naval Aviation Indigenisation Roadmap 2019-22:
  • The existing Naval Aviation Indigenisation Roadmap 2019-22 is also under revision.
  • All fast-moving aircraft mandatory spares and high-cost indigenous repairs are included in the revised Naval Aviation Indigenisation Roadmap 2022-27.
  • There is a particular focus on the fight component (weapons) as there is still a long way to go compared to the float and move parts.
  • The float consists of the ship, the move comprises the propulsion, and the fight consists of weapons and sensors.

NIIO (Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organization)

• NIIO has been established to foster innovation and indigenisation for self-reliance in defence in keeping with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• The NIIO puts in place dedicated structures for the end users to interact with academia and industry.
• The NIIO was launched in 2020.
• The NIIO is a three-tiered organisation. 
  1. Naval Technology Acceleration Council (N-TAC) will bring together the twin aspects of innovation and indigenisation and provide apex-level directives. 
  2. A working group under the N-TAC will implement the projects. 
  3. A Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC) has also been created to induce emerging disruptive technology in an accelerated time frame.

Pic Courtesy: All India Radio

Content Source: Indian Express