Port Louis [Mauritius], March 12 (ANI): The warship Indian Naval Ship (INS) Trikand will participate in the 58th Mauritius National Day celebrations on Thursday, including a marching contingent, a naval band performance and a fly-past by the ship's integral helicopter during the National Day Parade at Champ de Mars, the Indian Navy said.

INS Trikand arrived at Port Louis on March 10 (Tuesday) as part of its ongoing operational deployment to the South West Indian Ocean Region, the Indian Navy said.

The commanding officer of the ship, Sachin Kulkarni, is also scheduled to call on senior government officials and representatives of the Mauritius Coast Guard during the visit.

The deployment will include a range of professional and cultural engagements such as cross-training visits, friendly sports fixtures and community outreach activities between Indian naval personnel and local counterparts.

According to the Indian Navy, the visit is aimed at strengthening maritime cooperation, improving operational interoperability and deepening bilateral ties between India and Mauritius in the strategically important Indian Ocean region.

Earlier, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy jointly conducted four successful in-flight release trials of the indigenous Air Droppable Container 'ADC-150' from the P8I aircraft off the coast of Goa between February 21 and March 1, at different extreme release conditions.

As per the release, indigenously designed and developed to deliver a 150 kg payload, the Air Droppable Container enhances the naval operational logistics capabilities for providing quick response to naval vessels under distress, needing critical stores/equipment, medical assistance, etc., at sea, deployed far from the coast.

The Naval Science and Technological Laboratory, Visakhapatnam, is the nodal laboratory for the activity. Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, Agra, has developed the parachute system and Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification, Bengaluru, provided the flight clearance and certification.

Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad, provided the instrumentation support for the trials.

To meet the requirements of the Indian Navy, the ADC-150 system for the P8I aircraft was developed and qualified in a short timeframe.

As all the developmental flight trials have been completed successfully, the system is expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy soon. (ANI)