The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved the acquisition of 118 Arjun Mark 1A tanks on February 23, 2021.
Highlights
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The approval was given for the Indian Army at a cost of ₹6,000 crores.
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This move will be a boost for the indigenisation in defence sector.
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The approval was given for 58-tonne weight DRDO-developed tanks.
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These tanks will be ready for delivery within the 30 months of signing the contract.
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Tanks have been fully designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with the Indian Army.
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118 tanks would join the fleet of first batch of 124 Arjun tanks.
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Arjun tanks have already been inducted into Indian Army and are deployed along the Pakistan Border in the western desert.
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118 tanks will also form two regiments in Armoured Corps of the Indian Army on the line of 124 tanks.
Other approvals
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Apart from that, the Defence Ministry also approved for the acquisition of indigenously-developed Nag anti-tank guided missile and Arudhra medium power radar.
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The DAC also accorded three Acceptance of Necessities (AoNs) at an overall cost of ₹13,700 crore.
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All these AoNs are in the highest priority category of acquisition- “Buy Indian-IDDM” where IDDM stands for Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured.
NAG missile
It is a third-generation anti-tank guided missile. The missile has the capability of top attack because of which it can effectively engage and destroy all the known enemy tanks in the day as well as night time. Final trial of the Nag anti-tank guided missile was conducted in October 2020 and now the missile is ready to be inducted into Indian Army.
Arjun Tank
It is a third-generation main battle tank which has been developed by DRDO. It was developed for Indian Army. It has been after Arjun from the Indian epic Mahabharata. It comprises of 120 mm main rifled gun.