Rajat  Pandit   

The defence ministry on Saturday gave initial approvals to long-delayed procurement projects for new helicopters, howitzers and air defence missile systems, collectively worth around Rs 46,000 crore.

The list includes the Rs 13,500 crore government-togovernment deal with the US for 24 naval multi-role MH-60 Romeo choppers.

The grant of acceptance of necessity (AoN) for the heavy-duty helicopters manufactured by Sikorsky-Lockheed Martin — designed to detect, track and hunt enemy submarines — by minister Nirmala Sitharaman-led defence acquisitions council comes ahead of the inaugural “two-plustwo” dialogue between India and the United States here on September 6.

Second big US defence plan cleared before talks

This is the second big US project to be cleared by the council before the bilateral dialogue is held by Sitharaman and foreign minister Sushma Swaraj with their American counterparts, Jim Mattis and Mike Pompeo. The first was the AoN accorded to the $1 billion acquisition of the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System-II (NASAMS-II), which is slated for deployment as a missile shield for New Delhi, as was earlier reported by TOI.

These AoNs will of course take some time to materialise into actual contracts after commercial negotiations between the two governments under the US “Foreign Military Sales (FMS)” programme. But the FMS route is considered “much faster and cleaner” than the cumbersome global tender process, which takes several years and is often derailed by corruption allegations in India. The US, on its part, is eager to bag more deals, having notched military sales worth $17 billion to India just since 2007.

The DAC also approved the over Rs 21,000 crore procurement of 111 armed naval utility helicopters under the “strategic partnership (SP)” policy, which seeks to boost the Indian private sector’s role in production of advanced weapon systems in tie-ups with foreign armament majors.

Officials said the “Make in India” production of the 111 twin-engine choppers, which will replace the ageing fleet of single-engine Chetak helicopters that operate from warship decks, will be the first project to kick off under the SP policy.

Full report on www.toi.in

Rajat.Pandit@timesgroup.com

Courtesy: Times of India: 26 Aug 2018