Context
Where this sits.
India's coastal security architecture is layered: coastal radar chains, AIS shore infrastructure, patrol assets and, increasingly, space-based monitoring. Optical and thermal sensing fills a specific hole in that layering — the small, non-cooperative, close-inshore traffic that neither radar nor AIS resolves reliably.
The problems
What actually goes wrong.
AIS silence is a choice, not a limit
A vessel that does not want to be seen simply stops transmitting. Passive optical detection does not care.
Small wooden craft return almost nothing on radar
Low freeboard, non-metallic construction and sea clutter combine to make the highest-interest traffic the hardest to hold.
Shore stations generate more video than anyone can watch
Coverage without automated analysis produces archives, not awareness.
Handover between layers is manual
A detection is only useful if it reaches the asset that can act on it, in time.
Products applied
What we deploy here.
National programmes
The frameworks this work sits inside.
India's maritime and defence modernisation runs through named programmes with defined funding routes. Knowing which one a requirement belongs to is half of getting it procured.
Outcomes
- Detection of vessels that have gone dark on AIS
- Small wooden craft held where radar loses them in clutter
- Automated triage of shore-station video into ranked alerts
- Machine-speed handover from detection to the responding asset
| Coastal security architecture | The layered national coastal surveillance framework operated across the Navy, Coast Guard and marine police. |
|---|---|
| Maritime domain awareness | Fusion of radar, AIS, optical and space-based inputs into a common operating picture. |
| iDEX open challenges | A direct route for startups to engage the services on surveillance problem statements. |
Programme descriptions are summarised from public Government of India sources and are provided for orientation. Confirm current scope, eligibility and timelines with the administering ministry or agency.
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