DRDO’s Air-droppable Container for Boeing P-8i Maritime Aircraft Receives Type Certification

An air-droppable container,ADC-150 with a 150 kg payload capacity has been type-certified for use from the Indian Navy’s Boeing P8-i maritime surveillance aircraft.

The maiden in-flight release trial of ADC-150 from the P-8I aircraft was conducted successfully on 22 January 2025, with the aircraft flying at 2000 ft altitude and 270 KIAS, India’s Defense Research and Development Organization said.

The flight clearance certification was given by the Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness (RCMA), Kanpur.

The successful integration and trial of the ADC-150 to P-8i will strengthen naval operational logistics capabilities to meet the requirement of critical engineering stores to ships (under distress), which are deployed more than 2,000 km from the coast. It reduces the requirement of ships to come close to the coast to collect spares and crucial equipment.

The ADC-150 was interfaced with the aircraft's Bomb Release Unit (BRU). A weight simulated mockup model was developed and used for form fit trial and pit drop trial. During the pit drop trial, the high speed photogrammetry instrumentation was used to measure the ejection speed of ADC from the BRU.