Rs 2.23L cr boost for defence projects

NEW DELHI: Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday gave initial approval to acquisition proposals worth Rs 2.23 lakh crore including procurement of 97 Tejas Mark 1A light combat aircraft and 156 Prachand light combat helicopters to enhance the operational capabilities of the Indian armed forces.

Indian Air Force has already ordered 83 LCA Mark1A fighter planes and their deliveries are expected to start in February-March 2024. This will take up the number ofLCA Mark 1A with IAF to 180. IAF is in critical need for additional fighter aircraft to replace the ageing MiG-21 aircraft.

Of the 156 Prachand combat helicopters approved, 66 are likely for the Indian Air Force while the rest 90 would be acquired by the Indian Army. These attack helicopters can take on the enemy from desert of Thar to the icy mountains of Himalayas. To push indigenisation around 98 per cent (worth Rs 2.20 lakh crore) of these capital acquisition proposals will be sourced from the domestic industry.

DAC accored Acceptance of Necessity (AoNs) for upgradation of 84 Su-30 MKI Aircraft indigenously from state owned HAL. The Su-30 fighter jets are the mainstay of the Indian Air Force with 260 of them in service. The DAC further accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) or initial approval for procurement of two types of anti-tank munitions namely area denial munition (ADM) type-2 and type-3, which are capable of neutralising tanks and armoured personnel carriers and enemy personnel.

The top body on procurement of military hardware also cleared acquisition and integration of automatic target tracker (ATT) and digital basaltic computer (DBC) for T-90 tanks besides approving another proposal to buy medium range anti-ship missiles (MRAShM) for the Indian Navy.