Coast Guard undertakes operational sorties to boost surveillance

Coast Guard Dornier 761 undertook operational sorties for three days for surveillance off Mangaluru, in a bid to boost the Coast Guard’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities on the country’s West Coast in Karnataka.

The Air Enclave at New Mangalore would improve the Coast Guard’s performance in its surveillance and reconnaissance roles off the coastal areas of Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep islands including uninhabited islands.

According to Coast Guard Commander S B Venkatesh, presently, CG Air Enclave New Mangalore which was activated on September 2016 is without a hangar, critically required towards parking and technical maintenance activities for CG Aircraft.

In absence of the hangar facility, the aerial surveillance is being undertaken on a regular basis on detachment by CG Dornier from Kochi and Daman. The case for provision of state of art hangar is at the final stage of approval by the Ministry of Defense.

The CG Dornier Squadron 749 with a unit establishment (UE) of four Dornier aircraft will be positioned permanently at Mangaluru on completion of the aviation infrastructure. Also, the land acquisition cases for the proposed Coast Guard Training Academy are being closely pursued with the district administration by the Coast Guard District Headquarters (Karnataka).

The dedicated aerial surveillance from CG Air Enclave New Mangalore would enhance and meet the long-felt need for air surveillance of the EEZ, as well as search and rescue and medical evacuation, humanitarian missions in the state and water adjoining the coast of Karnataka. It will also ensure prompt air-sea coordinated patrol, said the commander.