Why in News?

• Post 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, India established National Maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) grid built around the National Command Control Communication Intelligence (NC3I) network and the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) which obtains information from over 50 coastal radar stations including those located on island territories.In the NMDA project, the NC3I network will function as the communication backbone and the IMAC will be the NMDA Centre.

IMAC:

• Set up to provide coastal security and to avert tragic incidents like the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, the IMAC is the nodal centre of the National Command Control Communications and Intelligence Network (NC3I Network), and is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics Ltd to improve coastal surveillance.
• The IMAC collates, fuses and disseminates intelligence and information about ‘unusual or suspicious movements and activities at sea’.
• The IMAC also receives vital operational data about ‘white shipping’ (merchant shipping including fishing vessels over 300 tons) from a number of sources such as the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and the long-range identification and tracking (LRIT), a satellite-based, real-time reporting mechanism for position of ships. This information is further supplemented by shore based electro-optical systems and high definition radars

National Command Control Communications and Intelligence Network:

• The NC3I network links 51 Naval and Coast Guard stations, located along the coast and on island territories.
• The network provides these stations coastal surveillance information obtained from various sensors such as the coastal radar chain of the Indian Coast Guard and automatic tracking systems as well as electro-optical cameras.
• The network rides on dedicated terrestrial data circuits, as well as, satellite communication, which helps the stations in remote locations to be networked.
• The IMAC is the centre where data from various sensors and databases is aggregated, correlated and then disseminated to various stations for enhanced awareness.