Army to deploy fleet of hovercraft along Pak border at Rann of Kutch

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said Monday that Army will deploy a fleet of hovercrafts at Rann of Kutch for guarding the international border with Pakistan.

The Army Chief said that the “training” and “operation” of the hovercrafts would be done by the Army in coordination with the Coast Guard which have experience in operating it.

“The Indian Coast Guard has been carrying out its task in a very professional manner and they have been continuously upgrading their effort. Today I am very happy that Indian coast guard ship Veera has been commissioned and it will add to the coast guard strength and help them monitor the coastline of the country more effectively,” said General Rawat.

General Rawat said the induction of the OPV will give a fillip to the maritime protection of India’s vast coastline of Eastern Seaboard.

“They are being based on the western coast in the Rann of Kutch,” said Rawat when asked about the deployment of hovercrafts. The Army Chief was talking to the news agency ANI after inducting the Coast Guard ship “Veera” into the maritime force took after the security of the eastern coast.

The India Coast Guard and the Army have been cleared to purchase around 12 hovercrafts for surveillance in marshy and marine areas in the Gujarat border.

Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, senior executive vice-president of L&T JD Patil, senior officials of Coast Guard, ENC, police and civil administration were present at the commissioning of the ship.

Veera is equipped with the state-of-the-art machinery comprising an integrated bridge system, which includes advanced navigation and communication technology and integrated platform management system.