Coast Guard gets 10 multicopter drones to boost surveillance | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: The Coast Guard has inked its first contract for indigenous multicopter drones, which are capable of being launched from patrol vessels for day and night operations, towards boosting maritime surveillance and interdiction capabilities.
The multirotor drones, with VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) capabilities, will play “a significant role” in the Coast Guard’s reach during surveillance and security operations, apart from assisting in search and rescue missions.
“This first contract is for 10 drones. The Coast Guard plans to induct 100 additional drones by 2025 to meet the ever-growing challenges in India’s maritime zones and search and rescue region,” an official said on Friday.
The smallest among the armed forces after the Army, IAF and Navy, the Coast Guard is tasked with coastal security, EEZ surveillance, anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, oil-spill and pollution-control operations, among other missions.
In the last 18 months, for instance, the Coast Guard has conducted seven joint operations with the Gujarat ATS (anti-terrorism squad) to seize around 350 kg of heroin worth over Rs 1,900 crores on the high seas. In these operations, 44 Pakistani and seven Iranian nationals were also apprehended.
The latest such operation took place when a Pakistani fishing boat, with 10 persons, some arms and 40 kg of narcotics, was intercepted close to the international maritime border line by a fast patrol vessel of the Coast Guard in the Arabian Sea on December 26.
The multirotor drones, with VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) capabilities, will play “a significant role” in the Coast Guard’s reach during surveillance and security operations, apart from assisting in search and rescue missions.
“This first contract is for 10 drones. The Coast Guard plans to induct 100 additional drones by 2025 to meet the ever-growing challenges in India’s maritime zones and search and rescue region,” an official said on Friday.
The smallest among the armed forces after the Army, IAF and Navy, the Coast Guard is tasked with coastal security, EEZ surveillance, anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, oil-spill and pollution-control operations, among other missions.
In the last 18 months, for instance, the Coast Guard has conducted seven joint operations with the Gujarat ATS (anti-terrorism squad) to seize around 350 kg of heroin worth over Rs 1,900 crores on the high seas. In these operations, 44 Pakistani and seven Iranian nationals were also apprehended.
The latest such operation took place when a Pakistani fishing boat, with 10 persons, some arms and 40 kg of narcotics, was intercepted close to the international maritime border line by a fast patrol vessel of the Coast Guard in the Arabian Sea on December 26.
