The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, which met on Saturday, approved the development of an indigenous Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The council allocated Rs. 5,113 crore for two systems based on the A-330 aircraft, which will be procured from Airbus. Eventually, six systems will be built for use by the Air Force. In all, the DAC cleared deals estimated at Rs.7,400 crore.
AWACS are radars mounted on an aircraft to provide seamless 360-degree coverage of the airspace. The Air Force is currently operating three Israeli Phalcons based on Russian Il-76 aircraft. In addition, the DRDO is developing two smaller Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) based on the Embraer aircraft, scheduled to be delivered this year.
BEL gets Rs. 1,605 cr. defence order for radars
The DAC on Saturday cleared the procurement of 30 weapon-locating radars from Bharat Electronics Limited for Rs.1,605 crore, Defence Ministry officials said. Each system is mounted on two high mobility vehicles.
The DAC has also sanctioned two other projects for the Army. Tenders will be issued for 1,512 mine ploughs for the T-90 main battle tanks; the ploughs are systems fitted on existing tanks to clear mines on the path of the tanks. The second project was for procurement of 220 truck-mounted lifting devices for Rs.24 crore.
The Navy is set to acquire Harpoon anti-ship missiles for its HDW submarines with the DAC approving certain deviations in the offset requirements for the 22 Harpoon missiles worth Rs.913 crore. The deal was approved last year in a government-to-government deal with the U.S. for around $ 200 million.
