The Navy will build seven next-generation corvettes for Rs 36,000 crore (Picture: ASW corvette INS Kavaratti)
By Vikas Gupta
Defence News of India, 7 Jun 22
The Defense Acquisition Board (DAC), the supreme procurement body of the Ministry of Defense chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, on Monday gave the green light to proposals for the acquisition of capital from the armed forces for the army amounting to Rs 76,390 crore.
The Ministry of Defense has announced that clearance falls under the priority categories “Buy (Indian)”, “Buy and Manufacture (Indian)” and “Buy (Indian – Designed, Developed and Manufactured in India)” or “Buy Indian ( IDDM)”.
“This will give a substantial boost to the Indian defense industry and significantly reduce foreign spending,” the ministry said.
While this is true, it should be noted that the MoD has only granted an “Acknowledgment of Necessity” (AoN) for the purchases, which is only the first step in a process of long-term acquisition. It can take five to fifteen years for an AoN to translate into a contract and for the actual delivery of military equipment and platforms.
For the Indian Navy, the DAC has granted AoNs for the procurement of seven Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs), at an estimated cost of around Rs 36,000 crore.
“These NGCs will be versatile platforms for a variety of roles viz. surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, surface action group (SAG) operations, search and attack and coastal defence,” the MoD said.
Corvettes are the smallest ships in the capital warship category. They traditionally weigh between 500 and 2,000 tons, while a frigate, the size class above a corvette, weighs around 2,000 to 5,000 tons. In modern usage, the ship types under corvettes are coastal patrol boats, missile boats, and fast attack craft.
The Navy has specified that the corvettes must have a range greater than 4,000 nautical miles and must be able to cruise at 27 knots. The 120-meter-long single-hull corvette is expected to have low radar, acoustic, magnetic, visual and infrared signatures. He wants an active towed array sonar and two light torpedo launchers mounted on the corvettes.
“These NGCs would be built based on the Navy’s new internal design, using the latest shipbuilding technology and would help advance the government’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) initiative,” the official said. Department of Defense. .
“For the Indian Army, the DAC has granted new AoNs for the procurement of Rough Terrain Forklifts (RTFLT), Bridge Laying Tanks (BLT), Wheeled Armored Fighting Vehicles (Wh AFV) with anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) and weapons locating radars (WLRs) through domestic sources with an emphasis on indigenous design and development,” the Department of Defense said.
For the Indian Air Force (IAF), the DAC granted AoNs for the manufacture by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) of Dornier-228 reconnaissance aircraft and Sukhoi-30 MKI aero engines.
“Development [will be] on improving indigenization, particularly on indigenization of aircraft engine hardware,” the DAC said.
In line with the government’s vision for digital transformation in defence, the DAC has approved the “Digital Coast Guard” project under the Buy (Indian) acquisition category. Under this project, a secure pan-India network will be established to digitize various processes of surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and human resources in the Coast Guard.
