Modernisation proposals worth Rs 54,000 crore get ministry of defence’s initial nod | India News

NEW DELHI: Military modernisation proposals worth over Rs 54,000 crore, starting from BrahMos missiles and 6 ‘Netra’ airborne earlywarning and management (AEW&C) plane to upgraded Russian engines for T-90 tanks, naval anti-aircraft missiles and torpedoes, got preliminary nod by defence ministry on Thursday.
Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) accorded “acceptance of necessity (AoN)” to further Army regiments and IAF squadrons of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, whose strike vary has been prolonged to 450km from the unique 290km, worth round Rs 20,000 crore, sources advised TOI.
BrahMos missiles, collectively manufactured with Russia in India, have turn into the “prime conventional (nonnuclear) precision-strike weapon” for the armed forces, with contracts worth over Rs 55,000 crore already inked over time. The grant of an AON, of course, is simply step one within the long-winded procurement process that may take years earlier than the ultimate contract is inked. Towards this finish, DAC additionally accepted pointers to scale back timelines at numerous levels to make the method “faster, more effective and efficient”.
Another key takeaway was the contemporary AoN granted for six ‘Netra’ AEW&C Mark-1A plane or “eyes in the sky” for IAF to spice up surveillance capabilities alongside the borders in addition to assist direct pleasant fighters throughout air fight with enemy jets.
The new Netra plane, which is able to entail mounting indigenous energetic electronically scanned array antenna-based radars, digital and sign intelligence programs on Brazilian Embraer-145 jets, will value over Rs 9,000 crore. With IAF presently making do with simply three Netra Mark-1 planes and three Israeli ‘Phalcon’ radars mounted on Russian IL-76 plane, India is lagging far behind Pakistan, not to mention China, on this enviornment.
The Navy, in flip, acquired AoNs for extra indigenous shiplaunched Varunastra torpedoes and Russian Shtil antiaircraft missiles for its 4 3,900-tonne upgraded Krivak-III class frigates. While the primary frigate INS Tushil has sailed to India from Russia, the second will come later this 12 months.
The different two are being constructed at Goa Shipyard with switch of know-how at a value of round Rs 13,000 crore. AoN was additionally granted for procurement of 1,350 horsepower engines from Russia for T-90S ‘Bhishma’ mainbattle tanks, which presently have 1000 HP engines. The power has inducted round 1,300 T-90S tanks of the 1,657 being produced by the Heavy Vehicles Factory beneath licence from Russia. “The engine upgrade will enhance the battlefield mobility of these tanks especially in high-altitude areas by increasing the power to weight ratio,” an official stated.