Article Posted on : - Jul 01, 2009

A file photo of Indian warships.

NEW DELHI (BNS): Purifiers developed by US space agency NASA is being installed in Indian warships to clear the fetid, below-decks environment.

AiroCide purifiers developed by privately-owned Greatwhite Technologies had already been installed in India's ageing aircraft carrier INS Viraat and a frigate. It plans to equip three other warships, according to AFP news.

The company “is in talks with the Indian navy to have its entire fleet fitted with this technology,” the firm said and added the system developed by the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) had other benefits.

“The technology will help protect passengers and crew from airborne diseases like swine flu,” said the Mumbai-based company. NASA scientists originally engineered the indoor air management system to expand the shelf life of food in space rockets, it said.

A number of India's warships are of Soviet vintage with poor air-conditioning and their cramped quarters offer little in the way of human comfort.