Defence Acquisition Council okays 8 new warships for Navy, special vehicles for Army and next generation corvettes as part of Indian Navy’s ongoing plan to have a 175-ship Navy…reports Asian Lite News
In a significant move, the defence ministry approved the procurement of military equipment and platforms worth Rs 76,390 crore from domestic industries.
The procurement proposals were approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the ministry said.
For the Indian Navy, the DAC accorded approval for the procurement of next generation corvettes (NGCs) at an estimated cost of around Rs 36,000 crore, it said.
These NGCs will be versatile platforms for a variety of roles namely surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, Surface Action Group (SAG) operations, search and attack and coastal defence.
The NGCs would be constructed based on a new in-house design of the Indian Navy, using latest technology of ship building, the ministry said in a statement.
The DAC also approved a proposal for the manufacture of Dornier aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with a focus on enhancing indigenisation.
For the Indian Army, the DAC accorded a fresh approval for the procurement of Rough Terrain Fork Lift Trucks (RTFLTs), Bridge Laying Tanks (BLTs), Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (Wh AFVs) with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) and Weapon Locating Radars (WLRs) through domestic sources, with an emphasis on indigenous design and development.
“In pursuance of the government’s vision for digital transformation in defence, ‘Digital Coast Guard’ project under ‘Buy’ (Indian) category has been approved by the DAC,” the ministry said.
“Under this project, a pan-India secure network for digitising of various surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and HR processes in Coast Guard will be established,” it added.
“This will provide substantial boost to the Indian Defence Industry and reduce foreign spending significantly,” a Defence Ministry statement said. “For the Army, the DAC accorded fresh Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of rough terrain fork lift trucks, bridge laying tanks, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles with anti-tank guided missiles and weapon locating radars through domestic sources with emphasis on indigenous design and development,” it stated.
These NGCs would be constructed based on new in-house design of the Navy using latest technology of ship building and would contribute to further the Government’s initiative of SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region), it noted.
The DAC also accorded AoNs for manufacture of Dornier aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with focus on enhancing indigenisation particularly in indigenising aero-engine material.
Further, a ‘Digital Coast Guard’ project under ‘Buy (Indian) Category has also been approved by the DAC. Under this project, a pan India secure network for digitising of various surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and human resources processes in Coast Guard will be established, the statement added.
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