Indian Coast Guard: 2020
By Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh
Being an "open" service, the force levels and roles of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) are available on its official website. A summary of the ICGs (75 vessels and 44 aircrafts) duties as laid down in the Coast Guard Act 1978 are -
Protection of Indian fishermen.
Safety and protection of artificial islands, offshore terminals and devices.
Assistance to fishermen at sea.
Preservation and protection of marine environment.
Prevention and control of marine pollution.
Assistance to Customs and other authorities in prevention of smuggling.
Enforcement of maritime laws.
Safety of life and property at sea.
Collection of scientific data.
Other duties, as and when prescribed by the Govt of India.
From its duties evolve the following missions for the ICG:-
Security of all offshore assets, and mineral wealth in the EEZ, presently at 2.01 million sq km.
Monitoring and countering marine pollution in the EEZ.
SAR in the Indian Search and Rescue Region (ISRR of 4.6 million sq km).
Scientific assistance.
Assistance during natural or man made disasters (e.g. Tsunami of 26 December 2004 and Bombay High fire of 27 July 2005).
National defence – During war designated units of the ICG come under operational control of the Indian Navy.
Monitoring the 7516 km coast line, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the coastal waters of the 1197 islands (mostly uninhabited) for illegal activities.
At the outset the rationale for creating a Coast Guard, must be understood. Any naval warship is expensive, as about 50 percent of the cost goes towards sensors, weapons, and electronics; 30 percent cost is for propulsion and power generation with shock mounts and other noise cum signature reduction devices, and also redundancies for battle damage; while the the final 20 percent is for the hull, where also the frame spacing is three times that of a merchant ship, so as to withstand explosion shocks, etc. All ships of the ICG, like their counterparts worldwide are comparitively cheaper than warships, since they are lightly armed and built to merchant ship specifications. Hence, the ICG is meant to carry out benign peacetime constabulary functions, at a greatly reduced cost than the Navy. Also, the Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) of the US Coast Guard (USCG) have a life of 60 years, while the warships (frigate and above) of the US Navy have a life of 45 years. When we compare this to the 25 year life of our ships in the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard, I think their is a need for a poor country like India to stretch the life of its "lightly armed" OPVs to atleast 50 years. The solution lies in superior paints and other anti-corrosion techniques.
Ideally, the ICG should be able to sanitise all areas from the coast, to the extremities of the EEZ which is 200NM at present (area 2.01 million sq km), with some sections likely to extend to 350 nm (likely area million 2.60 sq km), after the UN Committee on Legal Continental Shelf gives its award in a few years time. In addition it should be able to provide Search and Rescue (SAR) at sea in the 4.6 million sq km Indian Search and Rescue Region (ISRR), the extremities of which extend to 1450 nm from the Indian coast.
Even though the Govt has now created the Indian Marine Police (IMP) for patrolling the territorial waters upto 12 NM from the Indian coast, the fact remains, that the IMP is more likely to have a scatterred presence, close to coast, and may not always be at hand in case of "hot pursuit" of a terrorist craft/vessel by the ICG, whose legal mandate still requires it to sanitise the complete EEZ and also to provide SAR. The ideal platforms in the ICG inventory for close coast and shallow water operations are the Hovercraft (24 hour endurance), the 5 ton Interceptor Craft (5 hours endurance), the 25 to 70 ton Interceptor Boats (24 hour endurance), ship borne armed helicopters, and shore based armed helicopters and Dornier aircraft. Unfortunately, the Hovercraft has proved to be very sensitive to strong winds and/or sea states above 3, thus making it non-available for about four to five months in a year. Nonetheless, a combination of various ICG assets, described earlier can do the shallow water tasks, if (and this is a big IF), they are available in sufficient numbers – I shall cover this aspect later.
From the 12 NM territorial waters limit, to the extremities of the present EEZ, the ICG is equipped with: a limited number (9 + 4 + 2 under construction) of helicopter carrying OPVs – 1200 and 2000 tons and having 15-20 days endurance, and its 20 kts speed is no match for some merchant ships, which today routinely ply at 24 kts; 20 odd 300 ton patrol boats capable of 30 kts having 7 day endurance, limited to sea state 4; and the Dornier shore based aircraft having 180 kts speed and five hours endurance, which reduces in "armed configuration. In addition three 20 kts Pollution Control Vessels (PCVs) are expected to join between 2008 to 2011; while three 26 kts, 2000 ton OPVs should join by 2010-2012. This puny force is totally inadequeate to meet even the current needs, leave alone future tasks. In comparision, the US Coast Guard (USCG) has some 2000 vessels, the Japanese CG (JCG) 560, the Korean CG (KCG) 260, and all have over a hundred aircrafts. In addition, for rough weather and extended patrolling cum SAR cum Pollution response, these Coast Guards have 5000 ton OPVs, capable of speeds of 30 to 35 kts, which can stow and operate one large (e.g. 12 ton Sea King) or two medium (e.g. 5 ton ALH type) helicopters. This "deepwater capability" is missing in the ICG, though its requirement had been appreciated in the recent past, when the Tsunami disaster hit us on 26 December 2004. Similarly, another major shortcoming, which is being addressed now is the requirement of some 6 to 8 "multi mission – multirole, long range aircrafts" with an endurance of 10 to 12 hours, with a payload capability, for SAR, pollution monitoring, pollution control, recconaissance, etc.
Before I suggest ICG 2020 force levels, I would like to dwell on the 5000 ton deepwater OPV. The JCG and KCG, operate such 5000 ton ships, with crews of 45 plus another 30, when carrying aircrew, and commondoes for vertical heliborne interception of suspected ships. These crew figures, achieved due to automation and remote control, compare very favourably, with our 2000 to OPVs, which have 120 people on board. Today, modern waterjets are available to propel these large ships at 35 kts, while automated stabilization systems enable helicopter operations in rough weather. The ICG should look at acquiring nine such deepwater OPVs-three each for the three Coast Guard Regions of the west coast, east coast and A&N islands.These vessels, should stow and operate two Dhruv helicopters.
Another aspect of the ICG which requires urgent action is the sensor and weapon outfits onboard ships. The basic sensor at present is the navigation radar, and the human eye which needs to be augmented with suitable night vision and lowlight devices. Barring four OPVs which carry the 76 mm Oto Melara gun , all other ships are fitted with manually operated 40mm, or 30 mm or 12.7 mm HMG and the 7-62 mm MMG. In keeping with modern trends in the Coast Guards of USA, Japan, South Korea, the time has come to install rapid firing 25/30 mm gatling guns to deal with armed terrorists and suicide crafts.
What then should be the optimum size of the ICG in 2020? My list is as follows :-
Deepwater, 5000 ton OPVs – 9
2000 ton OPVs – 27 (to include all present OPVs, with their life extended to 50 years)
2000 ton PCVs (with secondary OPV role) – 9
Patrol Boats of 350 to 500 tons – 60
Interceptor Boats of 60 to 100 tons – 90
Interceptor Crafts of 5 to 10 tons – 30
Hovercraft – 18
UAVs – 18
Dornier type aircraft (5 hour endurance) – 30
Multimission – multi role , long range aircraft (10 to 12 hour endurance) – 9
ALH type (5 ton) helicopters – 30
"Light Helicopter 2 tons or existing Chetak type – 30 "
The existing manpower of the ICG, i.e. 7000 officers and men, with a teeth to tail ratio of 2:1 needs to expand to about 20,000. Also the present practice of carrying out basic training and long courses with the Navy, and flying courses with the IAF, as also the cost effective practice of outsourcing refits of ships to shipyards and aircraft to HAL/OEM, must continue. However one aspect needs a change. Presently all selected ICG officers undergo 18 months specialized training in Sweden, There is a need to set up an institute in India to take over this vital aspect.
In addition, the ICG will need to "net in" to a modified version of the Indian Navy's Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) electronic plot for faster response to any emergent situation.
Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh, former Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command and Director General of Indian Coast Guard.
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