Article Posted on : - Dec 08, 2011

Indian Navy aircraft at INS Rajali.

CHENNAI (PTI): As part of modernising the Indian Navy, the southern peninsula will soon have Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Naval Air Stations in Tamil Nadu.

"We will have Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) soon, maybe by next year. They will be based in the air stations in Tamil Nadu," a senior Naval official told reporters on board INS Shivalik here on Wednesday.

Navy has two naval air stations in the state - INS Rajali at Arakkonam and INS Parundu at Uchipuli.

The Navy had joined hands with the Coastal Security Group of Tamil Nadu Police and Indian Coast Guard in educating fishermen along the Tamil Nadu coast on the importance of International Maritime Boundary Line, the official said.

"We have seven units in the state and they are educating the fishermen in their regions. It looks like its working and the incidents of crossing the border is coming down," he said.

On Indian Navy's part in tackling sea piracy, he said the force was part of the international co-ordination of navies and has been given a stretch of 500 nautical miles in the Gulf of Aden.

"In this convoy system, we tell them (international co-ordination centre) when our ships will be on either of the sides and that information will be given to the civilian ships that are crossing the area. Usually, we take with us some 15 ships safely to the other side," the official said.

Earlier, the Navy conducted an exercise with six naval warships - INS Ranjir, INS Ranjit, INS Ranvijay, INS Shivalik, INS Kirch and INS Airavat, as part of the Navy Week celebrations off the Chennai coast in the Bay of Bengal.

Coordinated by Rear Admiral H C S Bisht, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, the naval exercises including jackstay and simulated gun firing that lasted for almost the two-and-a-half hour sailing for 54 km.

"After 26/11, everybody is more sensitive to the threat (through the sea) and so we have security forces exercises. We are coordinating with all the agencies of the government," Rear Admiral H C S Bisht said.

He said the navy was expecting the indigenous aircraft carrier which is now being built to join the force soon, apart from INS Vikramaditya being built in Russia.