MoD approves 8 warships, special vehicles for Army

Tribune News Service

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, June 6

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Monday approved making eight new warships, surveillance planes and new vehicles for warfighting in the Himalayas and asked Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to focus on indigenous manufacturing of aero-engine.

Dornier aircraft

• For the Navy, the Defence Acquisition Council accorded approval for the procurement of next- generation corvettes at a cost of Rs 36,000 crore
• It also approved a proposal for the manufacture of Dornier aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines

Digital Coast Guard

• Also in pursuance of the government’s vision for digital transformation in defence is the Digital Coast Guard project, which has been approved by the Defence Acquisition Council
• Under this, a pan-India secure network for digitising of various surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and HR processes in the Indian Coast Guard will be established

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the apex decision-making body of the MoD chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, has accorded acceptance of necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals of the Armed Forces amounting to Rs 76,390 crore. All equipment will be sourced locally.

The AoN is the first step to procurement procedure, which is followed by technical and commercial bids.

The DAC allowed procurement of next generation corvettes at an estimated cost of Rs 36,000 crore. These corvettes will be part of the Navy’s ongoing plan to have a 175-ship force and will be fully indigenous. All machinery will be procured from the Indian industry. An Indian shipyard will be selected through competitive bidding. The warships are versatile platforms with an ability to conduct anti-ship operations and anti-submarine warfare. The DAC also accorded AoNs for the making of Dornier aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by HAL with focus on enhancing indigenisation, particularly in aero-engine material.

For the Army, the DAC has accorded fresh AoNs for the procurement of forklift trucks for rough terrain, bridge-laying tanks, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles with anti-tank guided missiles, and weapon-locating radars all through indigenous sources with an emphasis on indigenous design and development. The wheeled armoured fighting vehicles are specialised 14 tonne vehicles that can carry up to 10 armed troops and are versatile to be used in the Himalayas.

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