&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Indian Navy could operate indigenous underwater drones within a year, says Ankur Shah")
India is now moving towards this new underwater battlefield, with the industry working on increasingly large autonomous underwater vehicles that could perform surveillance, reconnaissance and other high-risk missions for the Indian Navy. The next naval war will not be fought only by warships and submarines. Beneath them could operate a growing fleet of autonomous machines carrying out missions without sailors on board.
Going where submarines cannot
Ankur Shah, Managing Director of Krishna Defence and Allied Industries Limited, shared on WION's Defence Pulse that large indigenously built autonomous underwater vehicles could begin operating with the Indian Navy within the next six to twelve months.
Shah said the fundamental advantage of an AUV is its ability to enter areas where sending a crewed submarine may expose sailors to unacceptable risks. Such platforms could scout hostile waters, investigate mines and operate in areas that remain difficult or dangerous for crewed vessels.
Jalkapi and the move towards larger AUVs
Trending Stories
)
US vs China over South China Sea: Washington backs Philippines, Beijing hits back
)
Bigg Boss 20: Isha Rikhi evicted after three weeks in Salman Khan’s show
)
Musk plans to more than double xAI's chips to over 1.2 million Nvidia GPUs by year-end
)
After JU, clash erupts at SRFTI: BJP’s ‘Dimagi Naxal’ jibe sparks political firestorm after students protest RSS-linked event
)
‘Anti-social elements spreading false rumours’: LPU issues statement amid massive unrest over alleged rape
)
LPU students go on rampage, vandalise campus amid widespread protest: What's happening
)
Trump asked Xi to pressure Iran. China did not say yes — here’s what Beijing wants
)
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hails global crackdown on Iranian banks and airlines
)
An OpenAI agent escaped its locked test cage again, by hiding questions in DNS lookups
)
'Our video was trimmed': LPU girls who featured in rape-denial video make U-turn
)
3 males killed, four others injured in shooting after fight at strip club in Detroit
)
'Victory for low-budget consumers': Raghav Chadha hails 30-day telecom recharge rules
)
Claude rebuilt the 1989 game 'Prince of Persia' by reusing the original's own code
)
Beyond metros: How Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities could drive India’s next AI wave
)
Tesla builds first Cybertruck with its own refined lithium: Elon Musk's $1 billion Texas bet pays off
)
IndiGo flight suffers tail strike in Bengaluru while landing; DGCA to probe incident
)
The US and China set up an AI 'red telephone', but skipped the rulebook
)
‘Terror suspects arrested near UK air base were looking to do big damage’: Trump
)
Russian envoy claims US tactics to contain India were revealed in ‘Freudian slip’
)
IND vs WI 1st ODI: Kohli breaks Sachin's most runs in one country record with unbeaten 139 as India thump West Indies by 8 wickets
)
Researchers rebuilt exactly how 700 AI agents hacked Hugging Face: a 900-link chain trick
)
‘Olympic inclusion is our major target’: WPA President Ishaun Singh on pool’s global ambitions
)
Nations League: Spain sink England at Wembley; Modric shines for Croatia
)
Why has Iran released no proof of life of Mojtaba Khamenei? Araghchi reveals...
)
'What kind of confession is this?': Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s 'terrorists would be roaming New York' remark goes viral, raises alarm online. Watch
)
South Korea demands apology from Ukraine over North Korean prisoners' transfer
)
Beyond BrahMos: India targets Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports with unmatched price edge
)
Sri Lankan Tamil migrant worker gets death sentence in Saudi Arabia, help sought from India
)
Muslim marriage cannot shield sex with minor wife from prosecution under POCSO: Delhi HC
)
'Can't help but draw painful parallels to Nirbhaya case': SC on latest incidents of rape cases in Delhi-NCR
)
99.9% more powerful - Scientists find boy who can recall memories from just 3 months of age
)
'FIRST LOOK from inside Noah’s Ark': Researchers share video from inside mysterious mound in Turkey
)
UNSC reform momentum grows: Russia, Portugal, Mauritius push for India's permanent seat bid
)
8 US marines injured in Iranian missile attack on vessel in Strait of Hormuz: Report
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
New OTT releases this week (September 28-October 4, 2026): Dupahiya 2, Pooja Meri Jaan, Ohh My Dog- 5 titles coming on Netflix, Prime Video and more
)
Afghanistan says 28 fighters killed in clash near Pakistan border, Islamabad denies
)
Ceuta migrant crisis: Protesters take to streets as Spain grapples with migrant challenge
)
LPU suspend classes, postpones exams as violence escalates over rape claims: What's happening
)
New York City wants a 'kill switch' on every AI, and will pay whistleblowers who report violations
India's Jalkapi project represents the next step in this transition. Shah described Jalkapi as belonging to the extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle category. He said platforms in this class could potentially travel around 1,000 nautical miles, remain underwater for approximately 21 days and undertake missions including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Long endurance could allow navies to maintain an underwater presence without continuously deploying crewed submarines. But operating beneath the surface creates a technological challenge. GPS is not available underwater in the same manner as it is in the air, and continuous communication with an operator is difficult. Shah said present systems still require humans to define missions and parameters, but increasing autonomy could gradually reduce the level of human intervention.
From surveillance to weapons
The transformation may eventually go beyond reconnaissance. Recent trials by the United Kingdom and United States have demonstrated the Royal Navy's extra-large uncrewed underwater vessel XV Excalibur successfully launching and controlling a US Navy Mk 48 Mod 4 heavyweight torpedo, pointing towards a future in which autonomous underwater platforms could carry offensive weapons. The trial was conducted off Scotland under the AUKUS partnership involving the UK, US and Australia.
Shah believes India could move in the same direction. Once an underwater vehicle possesses sufficient endurance and payload capacity, he said, it can potentially be configured not only with surveillance equipment but also to launch kinetic weapons such as heavyweight torpedoes.
The development points towards a future where the submarine would remain central to undersea warfare, but some of the most dangerous missions could increasingly be handled by machines first.
