National Maritime Domain Awareness Centre (NMDAC)
02 Jan 2024 4 mins Download PDF
India is poised to establish a National Maritime Domain Awareness Centre (NMDAC) in response to emerging threats in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
NMDAC
- The Indian Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram, is on track to upgrade into the National Maritime Domain Awareness Centre in about three years.
Objective - The primary objective of the NMDAC is to meticulously gather, analyze, and provide actionable intelligence to address maritime challenges.
- The center will maintain vigilant oversight of the expanding Chinese naval activities within the IOR.
- Once operational, the NDMA Centre will house people from 15 agencies under seven Ministries enabling exchange of maritime information in real-time across the board.
- The involved ministries include petroleum, defense, fisheries, shipping, among others.
BEL - Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a defense public sector undertaking, is entrusted with the responsibility of providing all the requisite hardware and software necessary for the NMDAC.
IMAC
- IMAC is the nodal agency for maritime information and monitoring and was set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
- Approved by the Defence Acquisition Council in 2012, the IMAC became operational in 2014 and is located in Gurugram.
- IMAC serves as the nodal center of the National Command, Control, and Intelligence (NC3I) Network, and the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in 2018.
- Both function as hubs for maritime domain awareness for domestic and international information sharing.
- NC3I - It is the nodal centre of the National Command Control Communication and Intelligence System (NC3I).
- It is spearheaded by the Indian Navy.
- NC3I was established to link the operational Centres and lower echelons of Navy and Coast Guard spread across the country’s coastline including the island territories.
- The NC3I, , links 51 stations, comprising 20 Navy and 31 Coast Guard stations, providing a comprehensive, real-time depiction of the approximately 7,500-km long coastline.
IFC-IOR - In the case of the IFC-IOR, the center presently has 12 International Liaison Officers, with plans to increase this number to 40 by 2025-26.
- Additionally, the IFC-IOR has established agreements with 25 countries and 1 international maritime construct concerning the sharing of white shipping information.
Functions of the IMAC -
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- Tracks vessels on the high seas
- Gets data from the coastal radars
- White shipping agreements
- Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transponders fitted on merchant ships
- Air and traffic management
- Global shipping databases management
Indian Ocean Region (IOR)
- The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is a vital maritime area spanning over 36 littoral and island countries.
- The region is strategically important due to its significant trade routes, natural resources, and geopolitical importance.
- It is home to some of the world’s busiest sea-lanes, including the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca, which serve as a conduit for international trade.
- Major portion of the world population and comparatively younger population resides in this region.
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