Def council to purchase equipment worth 5K cr

The Defence Acquisition Council ( DAC) on Thursday okayed the procurement of 12 High Power Radars for the Indian Air Force ( IAF) under Buy ( Indian) IDDM category and Air Cushion Vehicles ( ACVs) for the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Army from Indian shipyards.

In total, the apex defence ministry procurement panel, chaired by Union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, cleared buys worth more than ` 5,500 crore.

A defence ministry release said, “The radars will provide longrange medium and high altitude radar cover with the capability to detect and track high speed targets following parabolic trajectories. Technologically superior, the radars will have the capability to scan 360 degrees without mechanical rotation of antenna and will operate on 24x7 basis with minimal maintenance requirement.”

Meant for the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Army, the ACVs “would offer great advantage over conventional boats/ crafts with their ability to travel at very high speeds over shallow water, sand banks, mud flats and swamps which are nonnavigable by boats/ small crafts due to draught restrictions.”

These craft will offer capability enhancement for the services, and would prove useful for the amphibious and riverine operations, especially at places, where there is a requirement to move men and material from one island to another island, across riverine terrain, creeks etc.