Building Operational Capabilities Of Armed Forces: Defence proposals worth Rs 7,800 cr okayed

New Delhi: The Defence Acquisitions Council on Thursday granted preliminary approvals for capital procurements worth Rs 7,800 crore. This included procurement of Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite on Mi-17 V5 Helicopters under Buy (Indian-IDDM) category to enhance better survivability of Helicopters. The EW Suite will be procured from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

"A Defence Acquisition Council meeting, held under the chairmanship of Rajnath Singh, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals worth approximately Rs 7,800 crore on August 24," Defence ministry said in a statement. The DAC has also accorded AoN for procurement of Ground-Based Autonomous System for mechanised infantry and armoured regiments which will enable various operations like unmanned surveillance, logistic delivery of ammunition, fuel and spares and casualty evacuation in the battlefield.

"Proposals for procurement of 7.62x51 mm Light Machine Gun (LMG) and Bridge Laying Tank (BLT) have also been given go ahead by the DAC. While induction of LMG will enhance fighting capabilities of infantry forces, the induction of BLT will result in faster movement of Mechanised Forces," the statement said.

"The AoN for procurement of Ruggedised Laptops and Tablets for the Indian Army under Project Shakti has also been accorded. All these procurements will be sourced from Indigenous vendors only," it added. To enhance the operational capability of the MH-60R helicopters of the Indian Navy, the DAC has accorded AoN for procurement of weapons for the same.