Stepping up its operational capability in Sir Creek, the longstanding maritime territorial dispute theatre between India and Pakistan, the Indian Army is going to acquire fast patrol boats (FPBs) and landing craft assaults (LCAs) for quicker movement of its personnel and material in that region near the international border in Gujarat.

The Army has issued two separate RFIs for procurement of 8 FPBs and 6 LCAs for purchasing them under the “buy Indian” category to give boost to self reliance in the defence sector. The operational capability enhancement drive comes in the backdrop of reports that Pakistan has been stepping up infrastructure in the disputed Sir Creek region of Ran of Kutch, Gujarat.

The boat should be capable of driving in and out of water bodies without the need for any jetty, the Army’s RFI stated. “It should be rugged and versatile, so as to facilitate seamless execution of small team insertion, surveillance, reconnaissance and patrolling such as operational role of small team task force or MOTF (Mission Orienting Task Force) etc across a varying matrix of terrain and operating conditions,” it stated.

“The fast patrol boats shall be utilised for coastal patrol and surveillance with the aim to protect area of Creeks of Gujarat, coastal area of India and inland water,” the Army’s RFI read. The Army wants that the FPB should have endurance of at least six hours of continuous operation without refuelling at the speed of 25-30 knots with full payload. The maximum capacity of the boat would be to carry 1,000 kg including eight people on board with their battle payload. The last date for accepting all documents is November 28.

Landing craft assaults

The Indian Army also floated an RFI for the rugged and versatile landing craft assaults (LCA) for transportation of men, vehicle, material, random boat patrol and limited search and rescue in Sir Creek area bordering Pakistan and Brahmaputra river that enters into Bangladesh.

“It should be rugged and versatile, so as to facilitate seamless execution of operations such as patrolling, fast attack/ interception, etc across a varying matrix of terrain and operating conditions,” the Army stated to express its operational requirement.

The Army, which wants to procure them under Buy (Indian) category, wants the LCA to zip through with a maximum speed of not less than 20 knots at around 85 per cent maximum continuous rating (MCR), the unit used for measuring specific fuel consumption at a particular speed. It should have 8 hours endurance if it runs at 14 knots.

According to the RFI, the LCA including trailer-cradle shall be transportable by road and by in service transport aircraft.

Related Topics