Indian Army to deploy fully-armed indigenous boats at Pangong lake for rapid patrolling

Amid the ongoing over eight-month-long military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, Indian Army in a bid to strengthen its presence and deployment in Pangong lake has signed a contract with M/s Goa Shipyard Limited to acquire 12 fully armed boats which will be used for patrolling and rapid troop deployment. The design of these 12 indigenous boats which will be built by Goa Shipyard Limited's Vasco De Gama facility will have mounted guns at both front and rear. 

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Indian Army signs contract for 12 Fast Patrol Boats

The Indian Army has inked a contract with M/s Goa Shipyard Limited for 12 Fast Patrol Boats for surveillance and patrolling of large water bodies, including those in high altitude areas. The Army further informed that the delivery of these 12-fully loaded indigenous patrol boats will commence from May 2021. 

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Army officials said, "The boats will be operated and maintained by the Corps of Engineers. These boats shall be vital in ensuring security along the border/ Lines of Control spread over vast water bodies, including those in high altitude areas. "The high speed and manoeuvrable boats will be equipped with state-of-the-art onboard systems," they added. 

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This announcement by the Indian Army to use patrol boats to strengthen its presence and deployment in Pangong lake comes after China during its initial phase of the conflict with India used a large number of boats to ferry troops to areas near Finger 5 and Finger 6. Meanwhile, India has a number of boats deployed there and these new patrol boats will augment the Indian capacity to move around the lake which has been a bone of contention between both the countries for a long time now. 

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(With ANI inputs)