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In its meeting held on Friday the 15th of September 2023, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved purchase of Made-in-India weapons and weapons system worth Rs 45,000 crores.

The weapons included much needed new missiles for Su 30-MKI fighter jets.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the DAC meeting.

According to a statement issued by the defence ministry the DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for nine capital acquisition proposals.

The inventory list included procurement of Light Armoured Multipurpose Vehicles (LAMV) and Integrated Surveillance and Targeting System (ISAT-S). The DAC cleared AoN for procurement of High Mobility Vehicle (HMV) Gun Towing Vehicles for swift mobilisation and deployment of Artillery Guns and Radars.

The DAC also approved procurement of Next Generation Survey Vessels for the Indian Navy which will greatly enhance its capabilities in performing Hydrographic Operations.

The DAC also accorded AoN for proposals of the Indian Air Force which included Avionic upgradation of Dornier Aircraft to improve the accuracy and reliability for operations.

The procurement of Dhruvastra Short Range Air-to-Surface Missile as a potent Indigenous Precision Guided Weapon for indigenously built ALH Mk-IV Helicopters has been cleared by the DAC.

The AoN for procurement of 12 Su-30 MKI Aircraft with associated equipment from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was also accorded.

The MoD statement added that during the meeting Rajnath Singh stated that it is time to upgrade the ambitions towards indigenisation.

“Rather than a threshold of 50% indigenous content for IDDM projects, we should aim for a minimum 60-65% indigenous content,” the defence minister added.