New Delhi, 30 November (HS): After a long wait, the central government on Thursday approved the purchase of 97 light fighter aircraft (LCA) Tejas MK-1A and 156 light combat helicopters (LCH) for the Indian Air Force.
Apart from this, moderate-distance anti-ship missiles have been approved for the Navy. The purchase of the Todd Artillery Gun System for the Army has also been approved by the government. To promote ‘self-reliance’ in the defence sector, 98 percent of weapons will be purchased from domestic industries.
The Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh approved the approval of the requirement for various capital acquisition proposals of ?2.23 lakh crore for various capital acquisition proposals of ?2.23 lakh crore. In this, weapons worth ?2.2 lakh crore will be purchased from domestic industries, which is 98 percent of the total approval. This will give an adequate boost to the Indian defence industry to achieve the goal of ‘self-reliance’.
Two types of anti-tank war for the DAC Army have been approved for the purchase of Area Daniel Municipality (ADM) Type-2 and Type-3, which are capable of neutralising the tank and the armor. AON has been given for the purchase of a state-of-the-art Todd Gun System (TGS) to replace the Indian Field Gun (IFG), which has completed its service period and will become the mainstay of the artillery of the Indian Army. Apart from this, 155 mm of artillery guns have also been approved for 155 mm nabless projectional, which will increase the pronunciation and safety of the project.
Apart from this, funds have also been provided for the purchase and integration of T-90 tanks, automated target trackers (ATT), and digital basaltic computers (DBC) for the Navy, which, in maintaining a fighter lead of T-90 tanks on rival platforms. AON has also been provided for the purchase of medium-range anti-ship missiles (MRASHM) for the Indian Navy’s surface platform. It is conceived as a light surface-to-surface missile, which would be a primary aggressive weapon on Indian Navy ships.
The DAC has received a purchase order from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army for the purchase of the Light Combat Helicopter Prachanda and Light Combat Aircraft Tejas MK-1A for the Air Force. Apart from this, DAC has given AON the option to upgrade Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft indiscriminately from HAL. The purchase of this equipment will provide huge strength to the Indian Air Force and will require indigenous capacity to acquire indigenous capacity from domestic defence industries. This will also reduce the dependence on foreign original equipment manufacturers to a great extent.
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