DTN News: India Gets 2 Fast Attack Boats To Fight Terrorists
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) MUMBAI, India - September 12, 2009: The Indian Navy has received two fast attack boats that will be used to counter sea-based terrorism and will be built by state-owned Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers of Calcutta.
The delivery Sept. 10 is part of a bigger order for scores of the vessels, which are called water jet-propelled fast-attack craft, or WJFACs.
(Image: INS Cheriyam) WJFACs are designed to be effective even in shallow waters, and have day-night surveillance capability and firepower that will enhance coastal security, an Indian Navy official said.
The 325-ton WJFACs just delivered, the INS Cheriyam and INS Cora Divh, can achieve speeds in excess of 30 knots and measure about 50 meters in length. The Navy is likely to receive more than 50 WJFACs in the next three years, the official added.
After the Mumbai terrorist attacks Nov. 26, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers received orders for 78 WJFACs from the Indian Home Ministry to be deployed along state coastlines.
The Navy is acquiring the WJFACs to replace the existing Seaward Defence Boats.
India has put the acquisition of anti-terror weapons on its fast track in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, including fighting terrorists on the sea. The Ministry of Defence has cleared equipment and weaponry under this category worth more than $1 billion, boats, including fast attack boats, interceptor craft, hovercrafts and offshore patrol vessels.
This undated photo released by the South Korea Navy on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 shows South Korean Navy patrol boats, the same type of South Korean boats that involved in a naval clash with a North Korean ship, engage in an exercise in the West Sea, South Korea. The two Koreas briefly exchanged naval fire Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, with a North Korean ship suffering heavy damage before retreating, South Korean military officials said.
The agency did not immediately provide any additional details.
A South Korean man watches a television screen showing file footage of South Korean sailors in a clash in 2002 with North Korea navy near the disputed waters off South Korea's west coast, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009. The two Koreas briefly exchanged naval fire Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, with a North Korean ship suffering heavy damage before retreating, South Korean military officials said. The letters on the screen read " South Korean warship shot at a North Korean navy ship which crossed the disputed sea border."
A Defence Ministry spokesman said it could not confirm the report at this time.
