Choppers, Tanks, Artillery: Major Indian Arms Deals Likely To Be Cleared Tomorrow

PHOTO /Staff Sgt. Ryan Matson
A handful of high-value defence deals, delayed over the cusp of government change in the country, are likely to come up — and be cleared — by India’s Defence Ministry tomorrow. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meets with a substantial agenda list, that includes deals for 22 Boeing Apache attacks choppers and 15 Boeing Chinook heavy rotorcraft, both deals concluded months ago, but drifting during the change of government.
Additionally, the DAC tomorrow, chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, will likely clear a chunky deal to medium refit six of the Indian Navy’s remaining nine Kilo-class attack submarines with new sonars on three of those, a follow-on deal for 118 indigenous Arjun Mk.2 tanks and 40 Arjun Catapult self-propelled artillery systems.
Significantly, the meeting will also see the Indian Army make a presentation on the all-but-stuck light helicopter competition that’s remained adrift for over two years now. The competition for 197 light multirole choppers for the Army and IAF is a fight between Airbus Helicopter and Kamov. Stuck after the AgustaWestland  investigations threw up evidence that an earlier iteration of the light copter competition may have been compromised, the Army is expected to present forward movement on the contract and push for an early call at the Defence Minister’s level based on fresh guidelines.

10 thoughts on “Choppers, Tanks, Artillery: Major Indian Arms Deals Likely To Be Cleared Tomorrow”

  1. Dear Shiv,your posts have become less frequent now.Are u going the aus air power way.This at a time when things are hotting up in the defense sphere.Just look at the spate of new acqusitions in the navy.

  2. What about A330 refueling tankers? Its bid was to expire last month. And what about follow on orders for C17? Boeing today further advanced its production end. Too many items on aganda and no money to play around. This meet will be another flop show.

  3. Good. But why only 118 Arjuna mk2, at least we should go for 500 tanks. We have 6000 tanks in total, we can't fit in 500 Arjuna in it. Unbelievable.

  4. @Anonymous 11.10 pm:

    Go and buy rock concert tickets from US…if you can suck a Rafale…u wud be godly…and comment on Russia shows your intellectual capability and caliber!

  5. I think a commitment needs to be made for 500-600 Arjun tanks so Army can invest in bases and repair facilities. Same with arjun based mobile Artillery.
    Army to present light helicopter case is also a great step forward in defence procurement. A private party should manufacture helicopters in addition to HAL (same like avro replacement deal)

  6. [email protected], your midget butt buddy called. Vladimir is waiting for you with his man tits. Russian armament is only fun to watch getting blown up on TV. Ask Saddam and his T-72's. Wait, Iraq is dismantled and Saddam's head got popped off.

  7. The culprits within the MoD and the super sleuths who stopped the scorpion and many other deals under the garb of corruption should be held unaccountable.

    The clear case of Vikramaditya, INS Kokatta without their main self defense and utility due to the MoD who signs deals and then the same MoD cancels deals is becoming a joke,,why sign it if it was faulty and if it was faulty , these idiots could only come to know when the procurement was to start trickling thru 7 years later!!!

    This coupled with DRDO's hopeless performance and untruth propoganda are the mix that will render India's armed forces toothless just like the policing force has been made

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