New Delhi

Navy to go in for long-range spy planes

Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta addressing a press conference in the Capital on Saturday. PHOTO: ANU PUSHKARNA

NEW DELHI: To enhance its surveillance capability as it dons a much wider blue water role, the Indian Navy is the first of the three defence services to opt for inducting rotary-based Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and has put on fast track the purchase of long-range maritime spy planes.

``We plan to go in for purchase of 12 helicopter-launched UAVs which will boost the Navy's surveillance capability at sea,'' said the new Navy Chief, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, here on Saturday.

``If required, we may go in for larger numbers,'' Admiral Mehta said at a press conference on the eve of Navy Day, adding that demand for these Advanced UAVs would come from the other two services too. Asserting that the Navy had now inducted shore-based UAVs to have an effective capability of keeping an eye as far as 300 km from the country's coastline, the Navy Chief said the UAVs were also being used to mount a vigil off the Gujarat and Maharashtra coast against terrorists attempting to use sea routes to ingress.

Observing that the Navy needed to bolster its long-range surveillance capability to keep track of goings-on in the region between the horn of Africa and Malacca Straits and even beyond in South China Sea, Admiral Mehta said the Navy would speed up the process of acquisition of eight long-range spy planes.

``We have received the response on our request for proposals and will start evaluating the competing bids by next month,'' he said. Lockheed-Martin with its upgraded P3C Orions, Boeing with its under-production P8 and Russian upgraded il-38 are in contention. - PTI.

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