Navy`s UAV squadron at Porbandar gets going!

Ahmedabad: Aiming to strengthen coastalsurveillance in Gujarat, the Indian Navy would commissionUnmanned Aerial Surveillance (UAV) squadron at Porbandar on Monday.

"The squadron will comprise four units of twoIsraeli-made Searcher and Heron UAVs. It will help instrengthening our coastal surveillance in the Arabian Seaalong the coast of Gujarat," a senior Navy official said.

This is the second squadron of UAVs to be deployed bythe Navy along the long coastline of the country. A similarsquadron was commissioned by Navy at its base in Kochi, acouple of years ago.

Indian Navy is amongst the few elite forces in theworld to have deployed such squadrons for maritimesurveillance.

Commissioning of Navy squadron in Porbandar assumesimportance due to the town's proximity with Pakistan.

The Navy presently uses a small mix of Israeli Heronand Searcher MK-2 UAVs, and is making efforts to acquireshipborne unmanned rotorcraft.

Post 26/11, India has taken several measures tostrengthen coastal security after terrorists sailed close tothe Gujarat coast in a dhow and reached Mumbai to launchmultiple attacks on various targets.

The squadron will be commissioned by theGujarat Governor Dr Kamla.

PTI