Post 26/11, DM speeds up hi-tech weapons purchase

'The Army has been told to expedite the purchase of the latest generation Harop loitering weapon system aka missile firing drone, Heron long-duration unmanned aerial vehicles, armoured vehicles and Tangushka air defence systems,'said The Indian Express

The report further said that, 'The Defence Ministry is giving a hard look at the delays in weapon systems acquisitions as the capital outlay budget of Rs 32,826 crore was revised to Rs 28,110 crore but only Rs 27903 crore could be spent due to limited absorption capacities of the armed forces and the delays in due diligence particularly in the Army in 2007-08.

In 2008-09, the budget capital outlay of Rs 37,482 crore was revised to Rs 30,614 crore as payouts earmarked for Admiral Gorshkov ($250-300 million), Brahmos missiles (Rs 2000 crore) and Eurocopter (Rs 3200 Cr) for the Indian Army were not made'

'Army Deputy Chief of Staff (Systems) Lt General Manbir Singh Dadwal was sent by the Government to Israel after the Mumbai attack to explore hardware options to tackle asymmetric threats posed by non-state players in the region.

With the US land forces in Afghanistan in mind, the Army is all set to acquire the Harop weapon system that has the capability to loiter in the enemy territory and pick up targets through its electro-optical sensors and destroy them with its 23-kg warhead,' elaborated the report.