It’s boom time for Army, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar okays big gun deal of Rs 15,750 crore

New Delhi: New defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday cleared a huge proposal for modernisation of the Army’s artillery arsenal with the proposed acquisition of 814 artillery guns (155 mm) worth Rs 15,750 crore.

This was done at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Saturday morning and was Mr Parrikar’s first meeting as head of the DAC. The Army has not acquired modern artillery guns for more than 25 years since the Bofors guns in the late 1980s and the decision reflects the resolve of the Modi government to fulfil its promise of quick and transparent decisions on defence acquisitions.

Mr Parrikar also decided that there could be even more than one DAC meeting every month, sources said. The possible clearance for this proposal was reported first by Deccan Chronicle on Saturday.

However, two specific proposals before the DAC the proposed manufacturing of 56 transport aircraft by Tata-Airbus to replace the IAF’s ageing Avro fleet and the proposed acquisition of another 106 Swiss Pilatus basic trainer aircraft for the IAF were deferred since the government apparently “wants more information regarding the proposals.”

Sources indicated that these two proposals could come up at the next DAC meeting in December. Meanwhile, the DAC also cleared the acquisition of integrated air command and control systems for the IAF worth Rs 7,160 crore for integrating air and ground sensors.

So far as the acquisition of the 155 mm artillery guns is concerned, sources said these would be mounted gun systems on heavy vehicles such as the Tatra trucks and were meant for deployment on the plains.

A request for proposal (RFP) had been mooted earlier but was scrapped. Sources said a fresh RFP will be issued under the “buy and make (Indian)” category which essentially means that an Indian company can enter into a joint venture with a foreign firm and bid for the contract.

Of the 814 artillery guns, 100 would be acquired “off the shelf” from the original manufacturer while the remaining 714 will be manufactured in India under technology transfer.