Maritime security – Technology, capacity building and collaboration the way forward: Vice Admiral Perera

The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) turned 73 last December and is going through an evolutionary period. The navy patrols Sri Lanka’s furthest ocean frontier, acts as our ambassador, and conducts constabulary missions which safeguard Sri Lankan interests.

For a relatively small navy, the SLN has over the last decade re-emerged, playing a regional role and punching above its weight by patrolling distant waters used for narcotics trafficking that are seldom patrolled by other powerful navies. It has also become a first responder to maritime emergencies and has gained experience working far from home shores in regions beyond the equator.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Morning, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera discussed evolving challenges to Sri Lanka in the maritime domain and how the navy planned to meet them in the coming decades.

Following are excerpts:

With the Sri Lanka Navy turning 73 this year, how has its role changed from its war-time exploits to face the peacetime challenges of today?

The protracted conflict the SLN fought in over 30 years is a different ballgame from what we are tasked with today. During the conflict, the Sri Lanka Navy was likely the only navy in the world to fight close quarter contact battles, which is essentially an attritional battle.

After 2009, the equation changed and the SLN had to re-focus on nontraditional security threats, such as illegal activities at sea. Organised cross-border smuggling and Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing had been a long-term problem, which we had to address after the conflict. Even during the conflict these issues persisted and the LTTE often used these issues to its benefit to ensure supply. However, after 2009 these issues grew, with nearly 200-300 Indian poaching vessels coming across the border each night.

Another development is that we have seen many Indian fishermen move away from traditional timber/fibreglass-built vessels to newer steel-hulled trawlers, thereby making poaching a largely mechanised bottom trawling exercise. The large steel-hulled mechanised trawlers, which do the most damage to our marine environment, push south along both the western and eastern coasts, causing a lot of damage.

One of the challenges is that the Indian coastal fisheries are supersaturated and not well regulated. On the other hand, Sri Lankan deep-sea fishing is strongly regulated. More than two-thirds of our deep-sea fleet have vessel monitoring systems. The mechanised trawlers do much damage and resist arrest.

From 2012 we saw the rise of human trafficking from Sri Lanka. It became a major issue for us and other countries like Australia. We have largely addressed that issue and contained it with strong collaboration. However, there are incidents which still take place and we are continuing our efforts to curb them. We need to appreciate the unwavering stance the Australian authorities took on the matter. The level of support we have got is much appreciated and we have a good collaborative process with them to deal with this issue.

The major issue is the trafficking of narcotics, which is an international issue. These are handled by international organised crime groups with key personnel in multiple countries coordinating such crimes. This is a huge issue for Sri Lanka. 

The ‘Southern Route,’ which originates from the Makran coast and traverses around the Maldives to come south, brings a large volume of heroin and synthetic drugs like methamphetamines – commonly known as ‘ICE’ in Sri Lanka. This route delivers to the east coast of Africa and to Indian Ocean island nations. Much of this happens in the high seas under cover of legitimate fishing. We also must deal with the narcotics flow from the Indian coast, which is a key source of Kerala cannabis in Sri Lanka. There is also smuggling of other contraband across the Palk Straits.

These are the key security challenges that we as the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard have to deal with today. There are also climate change-related issues which pose risks to island nations like Sri Lanka, particularly the increasing climate-related natural disaster situation, which also needs to be addressed.

Looking ahead to 2033, for the navy to play the envisaged role, what types of capacities and changes will be required?

The current challenges will continue. Looking ahead, the challenges from climate change and global warming will increase. Sea level rising and coastal erosion-related challenges will increase. Our neighbouring states like the Maldives may be significantly affected. Therefore, the requirement and scope of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HA/DR) will likely increase in both the coastal and regional context. 

At present we have limited amphibious capability to address such requirements. We have one Landing Ship Tank (LST) and several smaller Landing Craft Utility (LCUs). We have developed the Marine Battalion as a reserve component to respond to such a situation. The Rapid Action Boat Squadron (RABS) today also acts as a reserve for such duties. We deploy both groups each year for flood rescue and mitigation tasks. They are force multipliers.

There are also growing asymmetric threats and inroads made by non-state actors in the Indian Ocean which we have to be vigilant about. The SLN will need to rapidly build capacity with evolving technologies to be able to respond to rapid changes in our region.

We have done a serious study about our future role. It looks at how we can meet current and future challenges and what force structure, personnel, and assets we will require for such. I think the national top leadership understands the need for capacity building of the navy and Coast Guard to meet the maritime challenges as an island nation.

There are other factors to look at also. Sri Lanka is cognisant of the importance of our blue economy. We have a 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). We have living and seabed resources, such as manganese nodules and petroleum resources, which we need to administer and protect.

We also have to consider the growth of coastal tourism in the coming years as Sri Lanka effects an economic recovery, so we will need to have streamlined regulatory systems in place to ensure we facilitate such, while ensuring security. There is a likelihood of increasing visits by yachts and they would in the future want to sail round the island and camp on the coast. Outbound adventure tourism is likely to develop around the coastline, so the Coast Guard and navy will also need to ensure their safety and rescue in the event of trouble. Therefore, coastal maritime domain awareness and rescue coordination will need to be improved for such tasks, along with the need to combat trafficking/smuggling.

Sri Lanka has a massive Search and Rescue (SAR) region under the law of the sea, which includes both marine and air search and rescue. We will need to have a national search and rescue coordination centre to cater to that region, which we are duty bound to have. The Sri Lankan centre will have to coordinate SAR in that region. The coastal infrastructure needed to meet those future challenges will need to be put in place.

With the defence review underway, the SLN is formulating a plan for our coastal deployment – the bases, detachment, and observation points. With the manpower component likely to reduce, the SLN found it challenging to man the coastal infrastructure needed for coastal surveillance and protection, so we will have to improve our coastal sensor network, with automated surveillance/thermal imaging cameras networked and add automated systems like drones – both airborne and naval – to sustain our domain awareness. For this we need to invest in technology and automation. Technology is needed to be a multiplier. Of course, we will need to have trained humans to manage it.  

The navy also needs to improve its command and communication capabilities. Given the vast expanse our vessels patrol, this means we need to induct robust satellite communications and downlink systems for the fleet. We also need to improve our satellite communications with the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), which uses maritime patrol aircraft.

For an island nation, maritime air surveillance is vital. We are not looking at a separate aviation entity for the SLN like the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). The SLN and SLAF already work closely on air surveillance; we want to build on that. Going forward the SLAF will also have to build capacity for Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and other systems for maritime missions. Most of our Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) have helicopter landing decks. What is needed are suitable maritime mission helicopters and unmanned aircraft systems which can be used from such platforms to expand our awareness and response capacity. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with downlinks, range, and endurance will help with real-time surveillance.

We are now a navy which has regional strength. The interdictions we do in far-off waters to curb drug trafficking also meet Sri Lanka’s international obligations. We are currently looking at a fleet plan focused on what the fleet should be in 2040. This will take some time. The current fleet structure was derived from the 2025 strategy. We now need to look beyond 2040. We may have to look at a fleet of around 15-18 ships by 2024. We also need to replenish our amphibious capabilities. Our coastal fleet, which served us well during war time and is still essential, needs replenishing. Some of what’s in the fleet now can be passed on to the Coast Guard.

With experience gained in responding to multiple maritime incidents over the last five years, it is clear that Sri Lanka is in need of a multi-purpose ship that can firefight, control pollution, and respond to a wide range of emergency situations. With the magnitude of ship traffic that travels around Sri Lanka and the planned expansion of the Colombo Port, we need to be ready for the next emergency at sea, be it a vessel on fire or an oil spill, so the need for a multipurpose vessel for such tasks is being factored into our plans.

Given the evolving threat environment, our shipborne air defence capacity and anti-submarine warfare capability need to be improved over the coming decade. Fleet-wide, we need more advanced sensors. Further, the Coast Guard will have to improve and expand as we move towards the future. Its numbers need to increase.

We plan to submit a report to the President and Ministry of Defence regarding our plans soon.

What about the need for improving marine domain awareness? Also, isn’t Sri Lanka blind in the underwater domain?

We already have some capacity in terms of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) to observe the surface of the ocean around us. At the moment, our sub-surface (underwater) awareness is zero. That is a significant concern for us. We have to urgently build capacity for undersea awareness. This is not only important to detect submarines, but also to monitor our vital undersea data cables, which connect the island to the world.

We are rather well-equipped at present for fisheries management and regulation, with multiple systems available to track Sri Lankan deep-sea fishing fleets. During the war, we had a long-range surveillance capacity which allowed us to have some awareness with over-the-horizon radar; it is at present defective. We will need to either bring it back to operational level or acquire a similar system, particularly for the southern sea, where there is a lot of ship traffic. We also need to be watchful of mid-sea ‘tanker transfers’ used by some vessels to increase their range or endurance and also of those tanker operators who try to navigate round international sanctions, particularly as there is a high pollution risk with such operations.

With the evolving geopolitical situation in the Indian Ocean, we also need to build strategic domain awareness (surveillance) capacity to monitor different parties who are now present in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

The SLN has a wide array of vessels in its fleet at present. Is there a plan to standardise the fleet to a lesser variety to improve serviceability, cost, and operational readiness?  

Yes, but it is difficult to do, as we have to work within the funds available. We have to act within our economic capacity. We are trying, but it is difficult. Within the classes of vessels and boats, there are many similarities, therefore we can sustain some. Several countries which have helped us with vessels in the past continue to support us.

Do other State institutions responsible for the marine and maritime domain need to capacity build for the future requirements?

Yes, to manage and regulate our ocean domain and its resources, agencies like the Coast Guard, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) need to build capacity. We need to have a strong regulatory system, as we don’t want external parties coming into our domain and tapping its resources. It is already happening in the northern waters in terms of IUU fishing. We need to have good marine domain awareness beyond our EEZ.

We have submitted Sri Lanka’s request for the expansion of our continental shelf, which is now being challenged. That is a huge area and we may get rights to non-living resources, including on the seabed. As such our capacity to regulate that domain needs to improve.  

The SLN is tipped to receive a sizeable floating dock from India in the future. How will such a facility help the SLN to maintain the fleet?

We have a very technically-proficient force. Maintaining our fleet through a protracted war has built our technical expertise. Up to now, the bigger vessel maintenance was reliant on the service schedules of Colombo Dockyard Ltd. The OPV hulls need to be maintained regularly and is a costly affair, so having our own floating dock will enable us to do it, thereby making long-term use of the fleet cost-effective. It also means that we can keep the fleet more serviceable and ready to deploy. The keel for the floating dock has already been laid and it can service most of our big ships.

The navy has traditionally played a diplomatic and constabulary role. How does the navy prepare its sailors and officers for this role?

Officer training in the SLN is highly evolved. The navy has long played the part of being ambassadors of Sri Lanka in the region. That knowledge base is there and we impart it to future cadre. We have a well-developed education and training programme in place. There are a lot of efforts to build professionalism and language skills of our officers and sailors. Our system is either 12 years or 22 years of service. After leaving the service, our personnel are highly sought-after in the private sector and overseas. Their marketability is high. Our officers and sailors are technically proficient and employable.

Has the Navy considered deploying on UN Peacekeeping missions?

Yes, we are keen to explore such an option. We would like to deploy a vessel for a UN Peacekeeping mission. It can also be a revenue earner.