Saturday, February 28, 2009

Indian Navy To Be Responsible For Overall Maritime Security

Indian Navy To Be Responsible For Overall Maritime Security
(NSI News Source Info) Kochi - February 28, 2009: In a bid to strengthen the maritime and coastal security of India, the Centre had decided to designate the Indian Navy as the authority responsible for overall maritime security, which includes coastal and offshore security. The Indian Navy uses modern technology and weapon systems, some of which are domestically developed. Others, like the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, are jointly developed with Russia. Some major strides in defense research. There are reports on the joint development by India and Israel of the Barak-II missile system, an improved, longer range version of the Barak-I air defence missile which is operational on Indian Navy ships. The Barak-I is used on most of the main ships of the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy's nuclear deterrence capability is based on Sukanya class ships armed with the Dhanush ballistic missiles that has a range of 350 km. India has a number of foreign made cruise missile systems, including the Klub SS-N-27. It also has its own Nirbhay cruise missile systems under development. The Sagarika (Oceanic) submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM), which has a range of at least 700 km (some sources claim 1000 km) forms part of India's nuclear triad. Another successful program has been the adaptation of the Yakhont anti-ship missile system into the BrahMos by the NPO and the DRDO. The BrahMos has been tailored to Indian needs and uses a large proportion of Indian-designed components and technology, including its fire control systems, transporter erector launchers, and its onboard navigational attack systems. The successful test of Brahmos from INS Rajput (D51) provides Indian Navy with precision land attack capability. Announcing the Government’s decisions on the sidelines of the keel laying ceremony for the ‘Indigenous Aircraft Carrier’ being built at the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) here, Mr Antony said in its endeavour, the Indian Navy would be assisted by the Coast Guard, State Marine Police and other Central and State agencies for the coastal defense of the nation.
As part of the measures to spruce up the maritime security in the backdrop of the recent Mumbai attacks, the Defence Minister said Joint Operation Centres (JOCs) at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair would be set up under the charge of existing Naval 'C-in-Cs'.
The JOCs would be manned and operated by the Navy and Coast Guard with inputs from diverse agencies, including Central and State Government. Besides, a 'National Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence' network for real-time maritime domain awareness linking the operations rooms of the Navy and Coast Guard, both at the field and apex-level would be established.
In order to synergise operations between the Navy and the Coast Guard, the Navy would control the operations of the two forces, which would result in effectively managing threats from the sea and security of the coastline.

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