Parrikar to chair his 1st DAC meet on Nov. 22

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar has got cracking already. The minister will preside over his first meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council ( DAC) on Saturday and will also commission the crucial Information Management and Analysis Centre ( IMAC) on Sunday that will act as the central hub for information on maritime domain awareness around India and is expected to be a significant step towards preventing a 26/ 11- type terror attack in the future. Soon after taking over, Mr Parrikar had made it clear that he would focus on fast and transparent defence acquisitions so that the armed forces get urgentlyneeded weaponry and defence equipment. All proposed defence acquisitions have to be approved by the DAC that is headed by the defence minister. The Navy badly needs more submarines, multirole helicopters and minesweeper vessels. The IAF wants inking of the proposed 126 Rafale ( fighter aircraft) MMRCA deal to boost the number of its fighter squadrons while the Army wants modernisation of its artillery and air- defence arsenal. Both the Army and the IAF badly need light- utility helicopters as well. Meanwhile, the commissioning of the Information Management and Analysis Centre ( IMAC) will also be a major step towards ensuring India’s maritime security and ensuring that unidentified boats in the sea are tracked or intercepted, if need be. Under the IMAC, over 40 Indian radars, including all coastal radars, will be integrated completely in order to provide continuous feed and data coordinates of all vessels operating in the waters around India. Immediately after taking over last week, the new defence minister was given a series of briefings by the armed forces and the ministry of defence (MoD). The minister has already promised a quick and transparent decision- making process.