Admiral Mehta in New Delhi. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, Dec. 2: The Indian Navy is scouring the markets to acquire unmanned helicopters to overcome its spying and spotting deficiency, chief of naval staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta said today.

The navy has planned to acquire up to 12 unmanned helicopters.

The navy has a squadron of Israeli-made Heron and Searcher Mark II unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Rotary wing unmanned aircraft — the helicopters — would give the navy the capability to hover over a large area for a long time.

The UAVs allow the navy to monitor activity upto 300 nautical miles from shore. All ships approaching Indian shores have already been asked to report 92 hours in advance.

“Lack of surveillance capability has been of concern for some time. The area we cover (the Indian Ocean region) is large and (capabilities for) maritime domain awareness have been put on the front burner,” Admiral Mehta said.

Eight TU-142 maritime surveillance aircraft have to be replaced immediately. The navy was evaluating responses to its requests for proposals for eight long-range patrol aircraft, Admiral Mehta said in his first press conference after taking over last month.