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The Indian Army and Navy will induct high-speed amphibious combat boats along the Sir Creek sector and in the strategically important Andaman and Nicobar Islands to guard them. The acquisition of high-speed amphibious combat boats capable of operating seamlessly across water, marshland and firm ground will significantly enhance mobility in the region.
The Defence Ministry has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for nearly a dozen rigid-hull amphibious boats under the Buy (Indian) category, mandating at least 60 per cent indigenous content. Most of the boats will be deployed with the Army in Gujarat’s Kutch region, while the Navy will station the remainder at Mumbai and Port Blair.
Bids are to be submitted within the next three months, with deliveries scheduled to be completed within 24 months of contract signing.
The Army’s Corps of Engineers will operate the boats in the Sir Creek sector, where specialised sapper units have long been tasked with operations in the difficult tidal marshes that defy conventional movement.
“Conventional boats run aground in the creeks during low tide, while wheeled vehicles get bogged down in the slush. These platforms will enable troops to patrol, intercept infiltrators and insert small teams across mudflats and shallow channels without losing mobility,” a defence source said.
Designed for both combat and mobility, the boats will be equipped with fore and aft weapon mounts and ballistic protection. They will be capable of speeds exceeding 40 knots at sea while carrying 12 fully equipped soldiers and a payload of more than 1,500 kg.
On land, they are required to move at 10-15 kmph using hydraulically operated retractable all-wheel-drive legs, negotiate gradients of up to 15 degrees, and be transportable by heavy tank transporters as well as IAF IL-76 and C-17 aircraft for rapid deployment.
The requirement is driven largely by the operational challenges of Sir Creek, a 96-km tidal estuary separating Gujarat’s Kutch region from Pakistan’s Sindh province. India maintains that the international boundary runs through the middle of the creek, while Pakistan claims the entire waterway up to its eastern bank. The unresolved dispute has also stalled the demarcation of the adjoining maritime boundary and the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) beyond.
The marshes around Sir Creek and the adjoining Harami Nala have long served as routes for smugglers, drug traffickers and Pakistani fishing boats. The vulnerability of the western coastline was starkly exposed during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, when the terrorists infiltrated by sea after hijacking an Indian fishing trawler. Intelligence assessments last year also pointed to new Pakistani forward posts, fortified bunkers and military infrastructure coming up in the area following Operation Sindoor.
Security in the creek sector currently relies on a mix of Border Security Force floating border outposts, fast patrol boats and all-terrain vehicles, backed by its specialised ‘Creek Crocodile’ commandos who patrol the Harami Nala on foot and by boat. However, none of these platforms can transition directly between land and water, a capability the new amphibious boats are intended to provide.
For the Navy, the induction will strengthen amphibious mobility across the widely dispersed islands of the Andaman and Nicobar Command. This theatre is steadily being reinforced as India’s foremost military outpost to monitor China’s expanding presence in the Indian Ocean Region.
Team BharatShakti
