Army looks to buy landing craft assault, fast patrol boats for border riverine areas

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, October 17

The Army is looking at two types of boats for combat in shallow waters along the borders. The Ministry of Defence today put out separate requests for information (RFI’s) seeking suppliers for ‘landing craft assault’ and ‘fast patrol boat’, respectively.

Will be used for rapid attack, patrol

• Landing craft assault (LCA) boats will be deployed for rapid attack, interception & patrol in Sir Creek area and Brahmaputra basin
• ‘Fast patrol boats’, smaller and faster than LCA’s, will be needed for anti-terrorist patrol and surveillance along coastal areas

Both boats are needed for different load capacities, speeds and operational requirements. An RFI is the first step of the tendering process. The landing craft assault (LCA) are to be deployed for rapid attack, interception, transportation of vehicle, material, patrol and search and rescue.

The LCA needs to have a capacity of carrying 35 troops with their full assault gear and equipment while the total load carrying capacity should be about 3900 kg that is almost 4 tonnes. The MoD is looking for a boat that can travel at maximum speed which is greater than 37 km per hour. The design of the boat should enable effective operations in rough sea conditions.

The MoD says these are needed in the Sir Creek area and Brahmaputra river basin. In Sir Creek, Gujarat, the boundary with Pakistan is not defined. The Army wants a boat that can drive in and out of water bodies without the need for a jetty, which is required for traditional boats. Though the RFI document does not specify it, the boat can operate in disputed water bodies like the Pangong Tso, the 135-km-wide glacial melt lake in Eastern Ladakh.

The other type of boats will be ‘fast patrol boats’ needed for coastal patrol and surveillance. These will be smaller and faster than the LCA’s. These will be needed to operate in very shallow and muddy water conditions; for anti-terrorist patrols near inland installations.

The boats need to have a top speed of 64 kms per hour while carrying four troops and capacity to carry 1,000 kgs of load at lower speeds.