Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar flagged off India’s first indigenous Sonar Dome

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 29 March 2016 flagged off India’s first indigenous composites bow mounted Sonar Dome during DefExpo 2016 in Goa.

The Sonar Dome will now be delivered to Mazgaon Docks, Mumbai for use in the warships of Indian Navy.

With the successful manufacture of Sonar Dome, India joined a select group of nations which have the capability of realizing large composites structure with multi-functional requirements, complex geometry and high structural rigidity with acoustic transparency.  

It was possible due to the Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) process technology with built-in process monitoring capability, to ensure manufacture of a quality product.

Key highlights of the Sonar Dome

• The huge bow mounted Sonar Dome is designed and developed by Research & Development Establishment (Engineers), a DRDO laboratory based in Pune.

• It is a first of its kind in the country, and has been manufactured by Kineco Ltd., a composites manufacturing company in India.

• The Sonar Dome comes as a huge contribution by Indian Industry to the Make in India movement.

• All anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ships have a sonar array fitted to the ship structure below the waterline. The sonar functions as the ship’s underwater eyes and ears.

• The sonar dome is a structure fitted over the sonar array so that its electronics and sensors are not exposed to surrounding hostile environment.

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