Coast Guard hopes to have 100 aircraft by 2018: DG

KOLKATA: The Coast Guard hoped to have 100 aircraft by 2018, DG Coast guard Vice-Admiral M P Murlidharan said today stressing on the need for better maritime surveillance.

"By 2018 we hope to have 100 aircraft in the Coast Guard," Murlidharan said while commissioning new inshore patrol vessel ICGS Rajratan.

Stating that coastal static centres for surveillance of the coastline were being built across the mainline and island territories, he said "Surveillance we are doing in two three manner."

He said that there were an average of 20 surface units across coastlines carrying out surveillance on a regular basis and 10 aircraft carrying out aerial surveillance, while ships and aircraft from the navy also did so.

"Add to this we have a set up coastal static centres that are basically a combination of radar, camera and IR sensing."

He said that in the first phase, 36 stations across the coast on the mainland and 10 in the island territories would be finished by the middle of this year.

"Thereafter we are going to start phase two which will have 38 stations and with that we hope to cover entire coastline," said Murlidharan.

Murlidharan said that the second phase of coastal static stations would take three years to come up.