Indian Coast Guard : Updates & Discussion

27 years.

They share the hull design with Sukanya Class OPV of Navy. Seems we will see those going out by the end of this year too.
Yes. Sukanya class will be retired and replaced by NGOPV.

Sukanya class is anyway used as training ship instead of OPV.
 
The study of operational patterns by ICG vs IN for its OPV fleet should make for a good study. Combined with funding and maintenance models, the resultant ships are fundamentally different. For example, ICG does not have its own yards - it relies on commercial shipyards to refit its fleet.

Samar class OPVs are derived from Sukanya class, and similarly Samarth class is derived from Saryu class. Yet Samarth is cheaper than Saryu. 95m L&T OPVs are 185 crore a piece, 105m Samarth OPVs are circa 350 Crores, while Saryus are circa 600 Crore. So ICG ships are cheaper.

An interesting debate would be - is IN better off ordering more but cheaper ICG style ships for OPV fleet? PN has done the same with Yarmook class.

Did a casual google search on commercial vs naval ship building standards;



"Commercial standards can build strong ships but most merchant vessels are designed to go from A to B in a straight line, and be manoeuvred alongside by tugs on arrival. They also have a short life expectancy, something in the region of 20-25 years, by which point the hull is structurally at it’s limit and beyond a mere refit to strengthen. Having a commercial yard design and build our ships is fine by me, but make sure the requisite standards of manoeuvrability, damage resistance and overall lifespan are included in the contract."
.....

"It is a bit like horses for courses, a ship built to naval standards will contain a good deal more redundacy than a ship built to merchant standards.
The down side is that military standards of construction are significantly more expensive.
The simplest example of this is hull framing. A merchant ship derives much of it lontudinal strength from the decks and the hull skin, hence gererally thicker steel. A military standard vessel is by comparison longitudinally framed. That is there is a whole lot more T section running lengthwise. Which adds a lot to fabrication costs as every penetration of a WT bulkhead has to be sealed with welded spacers."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ashwin
ICGS Sangram (43) also decommissioned after 26 years of service

115 days sailing per year on average or 32% availability
vs

ICGS Samar
83 days sailing per year on average or 23% availability
 
ICGS Sangram (43) also decommissioned after 26 years of service

115 days sailing per year on average or 32% availability
vs

ICGS Samar
83 days sailing per year on average or 23% availability
2 Vessels are still in service. But with their decommissioning, the ICG will not have any vessels which have 76mm guns. All the ships will have the 30mm Medak gun which will be replaced by 30mm NSG in the future.
 
2 Vessels are still in service. But with their decommissioning, the ICG will not have any vessels which have 76mm guns. All the ships will have the 30mm Medak gun which will be replaced by 30mm NSG in the future.

And that's absolutely fine - 76m SRGM is absolute overkill for ICG. 30mm is absolutely fine, though 40mm is preferable.
 
Just a good picture

1700918626002.png
 

157 ships - getting to 200 ships in couple of years will require adding at lest 50 ships. Impossible.

I think the DG was misquoted - the ambition would be to at least place orders in the next 1-2 years in order to achieve the 200 ship target.

02 PCV
01 CTS
08 FPV
---
11 ships on order/contracted
----

06 NGOPV Bids opened
18 FPV RFP
22 FIB RFI
---
46 vessels in pipeline
---

Even if the pipeline is translated to orders, it will take more to balance decommissioning as well.
We have seen that ICG ships tend to have shorter lives and hence the tempo of orders and inductions has to be high for a 200 ship force.

Assuming a 20 year life on average, it means every year 10 ships will retire. so anywhere from 8-12 ships may retire or need to be ordered every year depending on how you look at it
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ankit Kumar
On the drone attack crisis in Red Sea and Arabian Sea - I am wondering if ICG is equipped at all to deal with drone threats. Most OPVs have a capable 40mm gun but has to be manually trained. Others come with 30mm gun which doesnt seem to have any air defence capability.

Even IN OPVs will have limited capability - to begin with how will they even detect the drones without a volume search radar? If detected, how will the 76mm gun be lased to the small aerial target?
 

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited has Signed a Contract with Acquisition wing of Ministry of Defence for Construction and Delivery of Six (06) Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels for Indian Coast Guard at a cost of Approx 1600 Crs on 20 Dec 23.
MDL has signed a contract to build 14 units of Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard
The Ministry of Defence has signed Contract with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL), Mumbai on 24 January, 2024, for acquisition of 14 Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). The value of the contract is Rs 1070.47 cr. These multi role FPVs will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by MDL under Buy (Indian-IDDM) Category and will be delivered in total 63 months.

Along with several high tech advanced features and equipment, these FPVs will be equipped with multipurpose drones, wirelessly controlled remote water rescue craft lifebuoy and AI capability etc. enabling greater flexibility and operational edge to the ICG to face new age multidimensional challenges. These modern FPVs will play a critical role in enhancing fisheries protection and monitoring, control and surveillance, anti-smuggling operations, search and rescue operations including in shallow waters, assistance to ship/crafts in distress, towing capabilities, assistance and monitoring during marine pollution response operations, anti-piracy operations. The acquisition of these FPVs is aimed to boost ICG's capability and reinforces the increased focus of the government towards maritime security.

In line with the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', the contract will boost nation's indigenous shipbuilding capability bolstering maritime economic activities and foster growth of ancillary industries especially the MSME Sector. The project will effectively generate employment opportunities and expertise development in the Country.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ashwin and Sathya
So current "on order" items for Coast Guard includes

1. 2 Do228 Aircrafts
2. 1 MDL Training Ship
3. 2 GSL Pollution Control Vessels
4. 8 GSL FPVs
5. 6 NG OPVs by MDL
6. 14 FPVs by MDL

Any chance of items returning from Mauritius getting back into our coast Guard?