The defence ministry on Monday (Sept 28) approved the procurement of arms and military equipment worth Rs 2,290 crore, including around 72,000 Sig Sauer assault rifles from the United States, officials said.
The Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) cleared the Rs 780 crore acquisition of the assault rifles from US firm SiG Sauer.
The 13-lakh strong Army has already inducted 72,400 SiG Sauer rifles, which are 7.62×51 mm calibre guns with an effective “kill” range of 500-metre, under a Rs 647 crore fast-track procurement (FTP) deal inked in February last year.
The ministry said that the procurement will be made from the domestic industry as well as foreign vendors.
Under the buy Indian (IDDM) category, the DAC approved procurement of Static HF Tans-receiver sets and Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) at a cost of around Rs 1,510 crore.
The HF radio sets will be procured at an approximate cost of Rs 540 crore, which will enable seamless communication between field units of Army and Air Force. The Smart Anti Airfield Weapon will cost around Rs 970 crore, which will add to the firepower of Navy and Air Force.
The government has accorded priority to the modernisation of the armed forces and the infantry modernisation has been initiated as part of the larger process to further enhance the combat capability of the Army.
In October 2017, the Indian Army began the process to acquire around seven lakh rifles, 44,000 light machine guns (LMGs) and nearly 44,600 carbines.
The military equipment is being procured at a time Indian Army is locked in a bitter border row with China in eastern Ladakh.
