Syllabus: GS3/ Internal Security
Context
- Recent disruptions in submarine communication cables in the Red Sea, highlights India’s urgent need to strengthen its Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA), the ability to monitor, detect, and assess activities beneath oceans and seas.
Why is UDA Critical for India?
- National Security and Regional Stability: China’s “Underwater Great Wall” project, involving seabed sensors and unmanned vehicles, has enhanced surveillance in the Indo-Pacific.
- The growing Chinese submarine presence in the Indian Ocean threatens India’s security calculus.
- Protection of Critical Infrastructure: Submarine fibre-optic cables carry most of India’s international data, including financial transactions, cloud services, and defence communications.
- These cables are vulnerable to sabotage, accidents, and natural disasters.
- Maritime Strategy: India’s 11098.81 km coastline, 1,382 islands, and 2.37 million sq. km EEZ demand advanced underwater surveillance.
- UDA is vital to securing sea lanes, chokepoints, and littoral zones.
- Economic Security: India’s Blue Economy targets, offshore energy, seabed mining, undersea pipelines, require protection against both natural and man-made disruptions.
India’s Undersea Cable Technological Deficiencies
- India lacks defined legal mechanisms to safeguard undersea cables within its territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
- Unlike countries like Australia, which has “Cable Protection Zones” regulated under UNCLOS, India has yet to designate similar zones, leaving its cables vulnerable to both accidental and malicious damage.
- Operational Readiness: India lacks indigenous cable repair ships and relies on foreign vessels for maintenance. This absence significantly delays restoration following cable damage.
- Monitoring Shortfall: There is minimal undersea infrastructure for real-time surveillance of subsea cable networks, which further risks timely detection and response to disruptions.
Initiatives taken by India
- Advancing Deep Ocean Mission (DOM): India’s ₹4,077-crore DOM is fast progressing with the Samudrayaan Project.
- The indigenously built Matsya-6000 submersible, capable of reaching 6,000 metres, is slated for a 2027 crewed mission.
- Recent trials of underwater hydrophones enabling communication up to 5.5 km depth mark a leap in deep-sea engineering.
- Leveraging Strategic Partnerships: Collaboration with Australia on advanced towed-array acoustic systems and with the US under Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) on autonomous underwater technologies reflects India’s focus on building robust undersea surveillance in the Indo-Pacific.
- Indigenous Maritime Infrastructure: The commissioning of INS Nistar, with 80% indigenous content, demonstrates how research, exploration, and defence needs are being met through Atmanirbhar Bharat.
- Resource Security and Energy Exploration: The launch of the National Deep Water Exploration Mission (Samudra Manthan) aligns economic and security interests by targeting offshore oil and gas reserves within India’s vast EEZ.
Way Ahead
- Establishing Indian-owned cable repair ships and a dedicated subsea maintenance fleet would reduce dependence on foreign vessels. Investment in real-time acoustic and sensor grids can enable timely detection of disruptions.
- Boost Technological Capabilities: Fast-track development of indigenous Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems, and advanced sonar technologies to bridge capability gaps.
- Adoption of AI-driven sonar data analytics, satellite-linked sensors, and predictive modelling will strengthen real-time situational awareness across the Indian Ocean Region.
Source: ORF
Previous article
BRICS Virtual Summit
