DAC Clears Rs 1.10 Lakh Cr Defence Acquisitions, 98% To Come From Domestic Industry

• The Defence Acquisition Council cleared capital acquisition proposals worth around Rs 1.10 lakh crore, with 98% of procurement planned from Indian industry.

• The approvals cover CBRN reconnaissance vehicles, bridging systems, radars, marine gas turbines, electronic warfare systems and secure access cards.

• The acquisitions aim to modernise the armed forces, strengthen domestic defence manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, cleared capital acquisition proposals worth around Rs 1.10 lakh crore for the armed forces, with approximately 98% of the procurements planned from Indian industry, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a release on Monday.

The approvals cover equipment ranging from Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Recce Vehicles and mine-laying systems for the Army to radars and marine gas turbines for the Navy, as well as electronic warfare systems for the Indian Air Force. The package is significant not only for military modernisation but also for expanding domestic manufacturing of critical defence equipment.

CBRN Vehicle Strengthens Army’s Capabilities

According to ty DRDO, "The CBRN Recce vehicle (Tracked) Mk-II is a reconnaissance platform capable of detecting, identifying, monitoring and marking of areas contaminated with CBRN agents and transmit this information to the supported formations. The vehicle is based on the BMP-II platform, re-engineered to accommodate different systems required for CBRN Recce purpose and will be used in plains and desert/semi deserts terrains."

The system would allow formations to assess contaminated areas while reducing the exposure of troops to hazardous environments. The Army will also receive the Sarvatra Multispan Mobile Bridging System, designed by DRDO and produced by Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML).

The system offers versatile bridging solutions for all types of military traffic for negotiating wet and dry obstacles of up to 75m span in steps of 15m, within 100 minutes and can also be used as an emergency bridge during natural calamities like floods and earthquakes.

DAC Clears More Defence Acquisitions

For the Navy, the DAC has cleared procurement of Arudhra radars and the design and development of Marine Gas Turbines. "Arudhra Radar will replace the existing Air Route Surveillance Radars at various Naval Air Stations and MGT, a warship propulsion system, will reduce dependency on foreign vendors," the MoD said.

The new naval requirement is aimed at replacing existing Air Route Surveillance Radars at naval air stations.

The Marine Gas Turbine programme is strategically important because propulsion remains a critical component of warship construction. Indigenous development is expected to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers for propulsion systems and strengthen India's ability to build and maintain major warships domestically.

The Air Force package includes Ground-Based Multi-Purpose Jammers, intended to disrupt adversary radar systems, along with the Defence Forces Secure Access Card system. The latter will replace paper-based identity cards and passes with interoperable RFID-based smart cards.

The acquisition package comes at a time when India is seeking to reduce dependence on imported defence equipment while building domestic capacity across several platforms, sensors, mobility systems and electronic warfare.

Earlier in July this year, the DAC gave its go-ahead for the purchase of weapons and systems worth Rs 52,000 crore to boost the armed forces' capabilities and the procurement included several crucial systems like AKASH TARANG, Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) Systems, Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) Weapon System, Very Short Range Air Defence System (V-SHORADS) and a few others.