On January 8, the Indian Navy dropped the Sahayak air-droppable containers, which descended to the sea with the help of a parachute. The cylindrical containers have been indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), India’s state-owned military research body. A test payload of 50kg in the container deploying them from IL-38 aircraft off Goa in the Arabian Sea. The navy said it would proceed with serial production of the containers following the successful trials.
Sahayak Containers will enhance the operational logistics capability of the navy, allowing it to supply spares and stores to ships which are deployed more than 2000 kilometers from coast.This will reduce the requirement of ships to come close to coast for collecting spares and stores, thereby increasing the deployment duration. These cylindrical containers are indigenously developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory and Aeronautical Development Establishment of DRDO. The Indian Navy has been enhancing its operational and logistic strength in the Indian Ocean Region by signing pacts with several friendly nations. Since 2016, India has signed logistics pacts with the US, Singapore, France, while similar pacts are expected to soon be signed with Russia and Japan.
