DRDO Advances India’s Underwater Defence Network with Layered Torpedo Protection Systems

India is steadily strengthening its underwater warfare capabilities through a mix of indigenous torpedo attack and torpedo-defence systems being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. Recent reporting has drawn attention to an Anti-Torpedo Torpedo, or ATT, concept as part of a broader layered naval shield, but official public-domain confirmation is stronger for systems such as Maareech and SMART than for any newly announced ATT trial milestone.

At the core of India’s existing torpedo-defence architecture is Maareech, an advanced torpedo decoy system developed by DRDO and inducted for the Indian Navy. The Ministry of Defence said in 2020 that Maareech, designed by DRDO and produced by Bharat Electronics Limited, is capable of being fired from frontline warships to boost anti-submarine warfare capability. Earlier official releases also described it as an advanced torpedo-defence system for naval platforms.

Maareech belongs to the soft-kill category of defence. In simple terms, it is meant to detect and confuse an incoming torpedo, drawing it away from the ship rather than physically destroying it. That makes it an important first layer of protection for warships operating in increasingly contested waters. Official DRDO and PIB references consistently support this part of the story.

Alongside this, DRDO has also been developing SMART — the Supersonic Missile-Assisted Release of Torpedo system — which serves a different purpose. SMART is not a torpedo-defence shield for incoming enemy torpedoes; instead, it is a long-range anti-submarine warfare weapon that delivers a lightweight torpedo to a distant target area. The Ministry of Defence said after its May 1, 2024 test that SMART is a next-generation missile-based lightweight torpedo delivery system designed to enhance the Indian Navy’s anti-submarine warfare capability far beyond the conventional range of lightweight torpedoes.

Because of that distinction, some recent reports appear to blur together three different layers of underwater combat capability: Maareech for decoy-based defence, a reported hard-kill ATT concept for intercepting incoming torpedoes, and SMART for offensive long-range anti-submarine action. Based on the official material currently available, Maareech and SMART are clearly documented, while the claim of a major new ATT breakthrough remains less clearly supported in public by DRDO or PIB. That does not necessarily mean such work is not underway, only that public official confirmation appears limited at this stage.

The broader direction, however, is clear. India has been building an increasingly indigenous underwater combat ecosystem through systems such as Maareech, Varunastra heavyweight torpedo, advanced lightweight torpedoes, and SMART. The Indian Navy’s Atmanirbhar Bharat journey note released in 2025 specifically lists Maareech and other indigenous underwater weapons and countermeasures as part of that progress.

In strategic terms, such systems matter because submarines and torpedoes remain among the most serious threats to high-value naval assets, including aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates and submarines themselves. A layered mix of detection, deception and, eventually, interception gives a navy more than one chance to survive an underwater attack. India’s push in this area therefore reflects not only technological ambition, but also a practical response to the growing importance of undersea warfare in the Indian Ocean region.

Reference:

PIB

PIB

PIB

PIB