Indian Navy commissions 2nd UAV squadron in Porbander

Ahmedabad, Jan 17 (PTI) The second Unmanned ArielVehicle (UAV) squadron of the Indian Navy was todaycommissioned by Gujarat Governor Dr Kamla at Porbander Navalbase.

The squadron whose primary objective is to carry outmaritime surveys and reconnaissance, will have two types ofUAVs which include Israeli-made Searcher and Heron.

The commissioning of Navy squadron in Porbanderbecomes important as the coastal town has a proximity withPakistan. Porbander also houses a naval base and a airstrip.

Indian Navy is amongst the few elite forces in theworld to have deployed such squadrons for maritimesurveillance.

"Each UAV will carry a payload in the form of radar,cameras, communication and intelligence equipments, based onthe nature of the Ariel survey that is to be carried outacross the coast of Gujarat," a Naval spokesperson told PTI.

When the UAV is airborne it would be controlled bycontroller sitting on the shore, he said, adding that all thedata including pictures, sounds, audio and others would berelayed directly to the shore where the control panel islocated.

Based on the data sent by the UAV, the Navy wouldreact after analysing the sensitivity of the matter, he added.

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Enumerating the advantages of UAV, the spokesperson said that it was totally unmanned, and did not requirefrequent refueling.

"Though we do have ships and aircrafts conductingsurveillance across the coast, but they are all manned andrequire to come back to shore for fuel," he said.

Once in the air the range of a UAV could be extended bytransferring the controls on to a ship in the sea from theshore, he added.

The higher it goes, more wider it can take pictures ofcoastline, he further said.

The Navy presently uses a small mix of Israeli Heron andSearcher MK-2 UAVs, and is making efforts to acquireship-borne unmanned rotorcraft.

Post 26/11, India has taken several measures tostrengthen coastal security after terrorists sailed close tothe Gujarat coast in a dhow and reached Mumbai to launchmultiple attacks on various targets.