Indian midget submarine rises to the surface
An artist’s rendering of the SOV400 midget submarine from Larsen & Toubro Defence. (L&T Defence)
An Indian private-sector company has come up with a design for a midget submarine.
Susceptibility to subsurface attacks has led the Indian Navy (IN) to regenerate interest in procuring two mini-submarines from private manufacturer Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Defence.
This diesel-electric midget submarine designed and developed by L&T Defence is called the SOV400. An IN order could extend to six vessels, Shephard has learned.
Displacing less than 490t, the 44m-long SOV400 is fitted with a conformal-array sonar and radio frequency sensors for detection, surveillance, planting limpet mines, communication and interception.
The SOV400 is primarily meant for deployment and recovery of special forces, and thus it can carry two four-person swimmer delivery vehicles. Its maximum
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