Defense

Cavitation tunnels exist to reproduce and study those flow conditions in a controlled environment before the real platform ever goes to sea. Research and industrial tunnel operators use them to investigate hydrodynamic performance, cavitation behavior, pressure fluctuations, erosion, and radiated noise from propulsors and underwater bodies.

The system was developed by the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) and handed over at The Infantry School, Mhow, one of the Army’s key training institutions.

What has changed now is HAL’s response. Instead of treating the delay as a generic supply-chain inconvenience, the company has begun imposing liquidated damages or penalty clauses on GE for each delayed engine, according to multiple reports. That signals a harder contractual line from the Indian side and reflects growing frustration within the defence establishment over slippages in a programme that is central to both IAF force regeneration and the wider Aatmanirbhar Bharat aerospace narrative.

According to JMK Research, India added 37.8 GW of new solar capacity in calendar year 2025, including 28.6 GW of utility-scale solar, 7.9 GW of rooftop solar, and 1.35 GW of off-grid systems.

In practical terms, that means India must be able to absorb a first strike and still retain the capacity to respond. Submarines are the most survivable leg of that triad because, unlike aircraft on bases or missiles in known locations, an SSBN at sea is difficult to detect, track, and target. That is why the expansion of the Arihant-class fleet is strategically consequential even when much of the programme remains officially opaque.

Addressing scientists and researchers at NSTL, Singh said the new facility would allow India to design, develop and test critical naval equipment, systems and sub-systems within the country, reducing dependence on overseas testing infrastructure. He described the LCT as more than just a new installation, calling it an enabling backbone for advances in propulsion, noise reduction and stealth technologies that are central to modern naval engineering.

A useful way to think about Swayam Raksha Kavach is as part of India’s effort to reduce dependence on imported “black-box” avionics and survivability electronics. In fighter procurement, imported EW suites are often among the most tightly controlled technologies, with source code, mission data flexibility, reprogramming rights, emitter library control and future upgrade freedom all becoming strategic issues.

In February 2024, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said space acts as a force multiplier across land, sea, air and cyber, and called for building counter-space capabilities as a deterrent to safeguard Indian space assets.