DAC nod for defence acquisition proposals worth ₹54,000 crore

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has given an approval to guidelines for reducing the timelines at various stages of the capital acquisition process to make it faster, more effective and efficient.

The Minister’s nod came at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) as the Ministry of Defence is celebrating 2025 as ‘Year of Reforms’. Besides this, the DAC cleared capital acquisition proposals worth over ₹54,000 crore to enhance defence capabilities, the MoD said in a statement on Thursday.

For long, industry and armed forces have been demanding a speedier and less complicated acquisition process since modern technology’s shelf life is less than average time taken, which can be as long as 7 years, for acquiring armaments.

For the Indian Army, Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) —a technical term for approval—was accorded for procurement of 1350 HP Engine to upgrade the present 1000 HP Engine for the T-90 main battle tanks (MBTs), the MoD statement read.

Major upgrades

The Indian Army has about 1700 T-90s which are going for major upgrades to increase its engine and fire power, and other capability enhancements for competitive edge in modern warfare.

The Ministry stated that the new engines will enhance the battlefield mobility of these tanks especially in high-altitude area by increasing the power to weight ratio —a need felt post Galwan stand off with China in 2020.

For the Indian Navy, AoN for procurement of Varunastra Torpedoes (Combat) was accorded by the DAC.

Varunastra Torpedo is an indigenously-developed ship-launched anti-submarine torpedo developed by Naval Science & Technological Laboratory, the MoD informed.

Enhance Navy’s capability

Induction of additional quantities of this torpedo would enhance the Navy’s capability against adversaries’ submarine threats.

An AoN for procurement of Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) Aircraft Systems for the Indian Air Force was also accorded by the DAC.

AEW&C systems are capability enhancers which can change the complete spectrum of warfare and exponentially increase the combat potential of every other weapon system.