Coastal monitoring and surveillance are being carried out on a real-time basis by Indian Coast Guard around India’s coastline through a Chain of Static Sensors (CSS) consisting of 46 radar stations.
According to the MoD official, these Radars have been installed since 2011 and there are no known harmful effects on the environment.
The Coastal Surveillance Radar is the primary sensor for Integrated Coastal Surveillance System (ICSS). It is capable of detecting sub 20 meter boats such as county boats, dinghies and fishing vessels in heavy sea clutter environment in all weather conditions. The radar is capable of operating 24×7. It has networking facility to operate either remotely or locally. Primarily, radar operates in X band and S-band during inclement weather.
“Steps taken by the Government to strengthen coastal security and to protect the vulnerable coastal ecosystem from further climatic degradation, and inter-alia, include patrolling, surveillance, exercises, community interactions, and social campaigns on marine pollution and oil spill control, the MoD said.
The government is also planning to expand the radar stations to boost coastal security.
The primary aim of CSR design is to detect and track small fishing vessels for Coastal surveillance applications. However, the radar can also be directly used for VTS (Vessel Traffic Management Services) applications, harbour applications or surveillance and navigational purposes. By mounting on ship, it can also be tuned to the role of Sea Surface Target Surveillance Radar. It can be used for Airport Surface Target Surveillance as it is a solid state coherent radar with Doppler processing.