Defence

MILITTARY OPERATIONS

Operations to check piracy on African coast

Operation Ocean Shield, Operation Atlanta , SHADE ,

Operation Ocean Shield,

Foreseeing an upsurge in pirate attacks in the coming months, the forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation patrolling the Gulf of Aden are bracing themselves for the challenge. Two Standing NATO Maritime Groups will be deployed in rotation in the pirates-infested area for the next two years.

· The NATO forces will operate in tandem with the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) and the U.S.-led counter piracy Task Forces 150 and 151.

· Besides India, which is one of the 17 contact nations for NATO in counter-piracy operations, China, Japan and Russia have deployed their naval ships in the region to ensure safe passage of merchant vessels from their countries.

· The Indian Navy’s missile frigate Godavari is now deployed on counter-piracy duties.

Operation Atlanta

The European Union, on its part, extended deployment of 12 naval ships under Operation Atlanta, launched in August last, till December 2010,

Meanwhile, EUNAVFOR has developed a tool, Mercury, using a Web application by which all navies in the region can have real-time communication with one another. The Indian Navy is also using it.

SHADE

To coordinate patrolling by individual navies and combined forces as also increase their situational awareness, an initiative, Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE), was kick-started under the aegis of the United States’ Combined Maritime Force (CMF),