Indian Coast Guard to bolster offshore fleet with 150 ships, 100 aircraft by 2020

The Indian Coast Guard is considering plans to bolster its offshore fleet by inducting 150 ships and 100 twin-engine aircraft by 2020, amidst escalating threat perception from the sea.

Indian Coast Guard director general vice-admiral Anurang Thapliyal was quoted by the Times of India as saying: "Our aim at the moment is that by 2020 we should have about 150 ships and about 100 aircrafts.

"As I mentioned we are looking at aircraft which are operated from ships, twin engine because that provides a safety factor, multi-engine aircraft which are operated from the shore, helicopter as well as fixed-wing aircraft, which can give us longer endurance on the limits of exclusive economic zone."

With work towards the procurement currently underway, the latest move is aimed at complying with the requirement of maritime domain, surveillance, patrolling and investigation.

Thapliyal added: "Today we have crossed the 100-ships mark and in addition 90 vessels are being built at various shipyards, including ships and small and medium boats. The total strength of the Indian Coast Guard is 11,000 personnel."

In the wake of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008, India has implemented several measures to bolster its coastal and maritime security along the entire coast.

Further, latest technical measures have also been deployed for coastal surveillance, including a series of 74 Automatic Identification System (AIS) receivers, which are complemented by a sequence of overlapping 46 coastal radars in the coastal areas of mainland and Islands.