India to get new spy plane, minesweeper ships and much more; 1.05 lakh crores allocated

NEW DELHI: India is embarking on a major defence overhaul. The Defence Acquisition Council has approved the procurement of weapons worth Rs 1.05 lakh crore. These include spy planes, minesweeper ships, anti-aircraft missiles, guns, etc. Most of them will be manufactured indigenously. There will also be deals with allies Russia and France.

• 12 Mine-sweeping Ships: Rs 44,000 crore. 12 ships weighing 900-1,000 tons will be built indigenously within 10 years. These will be able to detect enemy mines at sea and attack ports. This is being given priority in the context of the Pak-China maritime alliance becoming a threat.
• Quick Reaction Missile: Rs 36,000 crore. Launched from land to air. Will destroy enemy drones and missiles within a range of 30 km. Will be provided to three regiments of the Army and three squadrons of the Air Force. In the context of the Turkish drone used by Pakistan in Operation Sindoor and the Chinese missile threat.
• ISTAR spy plane: Rs 10,000 crore. To monitor enemy military bases and military movements. ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) is a spy plane equipped with synthetic aperture radars, electro-optical and infrared sensors. The sensors will be developed by DRDO.
• A semi-submersible surveillance ship, 76 mm super-rapid guns mounted on warships, mines that detect and destroy warships through acoustic, magnetic and pressure differences (DRDO), and armoured vehicles will also be purchased.

Apache to arrive this month

Three of the six Apache helicopters purchased from the US will arrive this month and the rest by November. The helicopters were purchased for Rs 5,691 crore. India and the US signed the deal in February 2020. Apache is described as a ‘flying tank’. 22 Apache helicopters are currently part of the Indian Air Force.

Coming, Super Sukhoi!

The Sukhoi-30 MKI will be radically modified to defeat Pakistan’s F-16 and JF-17 fighter jets. The cost is 66,829 crores. The indigenously manufactured Astra Mk-II and Mk-III missiles and the state-of-the-art Virupaksha AESA radar will be installed to make it a Super Sukhoi. The R-77 missile on the Sukhoi has a strike range of only 100 km. The Astra Mk-II has a range of 300 km and the Astra Mk-III has a range of 400 km. The radar developed by DRDO will detect targets at a distance of 400 km. 84 aircraft will be upgraded in 3-4 years. HAL will build 12 more aircraft at a cost of Rs 13,500 crore to replace the 12 aircraft damaged in accidents. An order has been placed for 352 Tejas aircraft.