Couach fast interceptor boats

Couach fast interceptor boats are patrol boats being built by the French shipyard Chantier Naval Couach for the Indian Navy.

Background
On 27 March 2010, in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Indian Navy placed an order worth around 600m rupees (US$13.2m) for 15 boats with Chantier Naval Couach, to improve their coastal security net.

Vessel
The Couach fast interceptor boats are equipped with twin 800 hp MAN engines driving through a complete Twin Disc propulsion system consisting of MGX-5114A QuickShift transmissions, ASD11 Arneson Surface Drives with BCS trim tabs and EC300 electronic controls, and can achieve a top speed of 50 kn.

Deployment
The first three interceptor boats were inducted by the Indian Navy in Mumbai during the last week of June 2011. Twelve more are due to be inducted by the end of 2012. These boats will be utilised by various Indian Navy units to patrol and intercept suspicious vessels closed to vital domestic assets.