Defence, nuclear & energy technology

Answer: (c) Torpedo launch and recovery vessel

INS Astradharini is an indigenously built Torpedo Launch and Recovery Vessel, commissioned into the Indian Navy on 6 October 2015 at Visakhapatnam. It is a small support vessel used to launch and recover torpedoes during underwater weapon trials, not a warship or submarine.

• ✓ (c) The Ministry of Defence release describes it as an indigenously built Torpedo Launch and Recovery Vessel, 50 m long, with a catamaran hull and a large deck with torpedo launchers.
• ✗ (a) An amphibious warfare ship carries and lands troops and vehicles; Astradharini is a 50 m trials-support vessel.
• ✗ (b) A nuclear-powered submarine is a combat vessel; Astradharini is a surface vessel for torpedo trials.
• ✗ (d) Astradharini is only 50 m long and is not an aircraft carrier of any kind.

Remember · INS Astradharini (commissioned 6 October 2015) is an indigenously built torpedo launch and recovery vessel of the Indian Navy.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) It can build fusion reactors for power generation

ITER is an experiment to show that nuclear fusion, the joining of light atomic nuclei as in the Sun, can work at power-plant scale. Every ITER member shares the experimental results and intellectual property, so if it succeeds, India can build its own fusion reactors for power.

• ✓ (d) ITER is meant to prepare the way for future fusion power plants, and members share its results and intellectual property. Fusion power reactors are the natural next step for India.
• ✗ (a) Using thorium as fuel belongs to India's fission reactor programme; ITER is a fusion project and does not test thorium.
• ✗ (b) Satellite navigation depends on satellite systems (such as India's own navigation constellation), which have nothing to do with a fusion experiment.
• ✗ (c) Fusion is a different process from fission. A fusion success would not by itself make fission reactors more efficient.

Remember · ITER (in France; members China, EU, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, USA) tests nuclear fusion; the payoff is knowledge to build fusion power plants.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error