India’s Defence Acquisition Counil Greenlights New Acquisitions Worth $10 Billion
India has proceeded with defence acquisitions worth about $10 billion in March. The approval spree at the end of the financial year saw contracts signed for HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft and Cadet Training Ships along with approvals for additional BrahMos missiles, Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) and Utility Helicopters-Maritime, among other proposals.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is procuring 70 HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of ₹6,828 crore. The aircraft will be supplied over a period of six years according to a contract signed on March 7. HTT-40 will enhance the ability of the IAF to train newly inducted pilots. The procurement includes associated equipment such as simulators.
The HTT-40 is designed to be upgraded in the future with weaponization among the stated possibilities. The aircraft contains 56% indigenous content which will progressively increase to over 60% through indigenisation of major components and subsystems.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) signed a contract on March 7 to construct three Cadet Training Ships, for ₹3,108 crore. The delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from 2026. These ships will cater to the training of officer cadets at sea after their basic training and can also be deployed for evacuation and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.
A meeting of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), held on March 16 accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for acquisition of Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) equipment worth over ₹70,500 crore. The Indian Navy proposals constitute more than ₹56,000 crore, which includes orders for BrahMos missiles with increased range, Shakti Electronic Warfare (EW) systems and Utility Helicopters-Maritime (UHM).
Additional BrahMos missiles, expected to number over 200, with enhanced range and increased Indian content will improve the anti-ship capabilities of the Indian Navy. These are expected to cost about ₹20,000 crore.
The HAL ALH Dhruv Mk-III will be bought as UHM. This is expected to put an end to the Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH) global acquisition program floated by the Indian Navy in 2017. The Indian Coast Guard will also acquire nine ALH MK-III helicopters for maritime surveillance capabilities. It will also give full night capability and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) capability for operations of the Indian Coast Guard.
AoN for procurement of 155mm/52 caliber Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) along with High Mobility Vehicles (HMVs) and Gun Towing Vehicles (GTVs) for the Indian Army was also accorded by the DAC. This is a long anticipated acquisition that paves the way for 307 ATAGS to be inducted into the Army in the coming years.
The dearth of artillery procurement since the 1980s has left the Army with a vast inventory of vintage guns which have to undergo upgrades to remain viable. The Army has a net requirement of over 1,500 155/52 guns under a two decade old artillery rationalization plan. The order will be split between Bharat Forge and Tata, the main industry partners for the DRDO programme.
In a notable step, AoN has been granted for development of Medium Speed Marine Diesel Engines. India’s venture into the development of such engines is significant as much of the Navy’s propulsion capability is dependent on foreign sources.
The IAF proposal to acquire Long Range Stand-Off Weapons (LRSOW), which will be indigenously designed, developed and integrated on SU-30 MKI aircraft, has been cleared.