New Delhi

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) is expected to consider several high-value procurement proposals at its meeting on Thursday, including the acquisition of HAMMER precision-guided munitions for Rafale and LCA Tejas fighter aircraft, Verba very short-range air defence systems, fixed-wing pseudo satellites and naval shipborne aerial systems.

The meeting will mark the first DAC session attended by the newly appointed Chief of Defence Staff and the new chiefs of the Army and Navy. General Raja Subramani, General Dhiraj Seth and Admiral Krishna Swaminathan will participate in the council for the first time.

Among the key proposals is the induction of the indigenously developed Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MP-ATGM), designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), for the Indian Army.

According to defence sources, the proposal includes the procurement of 100 launchers, 2,300 missiles and five simulators. Bharat Dynamics Limited has been identified as the production agency for the indigenously designed, developed and manufactured weapon system.

The project, estimated to cost more than Rs 2,600 crore, is also expected to include efforts by the Defence Ministry to identify private-sector partners to expand production of the missile system.

The council is also likely to consider a proposal to procure 600 HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) precision-guided bombs for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. Under the plan, the weapons will be manufactured in India by Bharat Electronics Limited in collaboration with French defence company Safran as part of the Make in India initiative.

The HAMMER munitions were first inducted under emergency procurement following the 2020 Galwan clashes with China. The Indian Air Force plans to equip its Rafale and LCA Tejas fighter jets with the weapons, while the Indian Navy intends to integrate them with its Rafale-M aircraft. The proposed acquisition is estimated to be worth around Rs 2,400 crore.

The Army Air Defence is also set to receive a capability boost through the proposed procurement of a large number of Russian-origin Verba very short-range air defence (VSHORADS) missile systems. The missiles are expected to be manufactured in India by Adani Defence Limited. The Verba system is regarded as a more advanced successor to the Igla missile systems currently in service with the Army.

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In addition to these proposals, the Defence Acquisition Council is expected to examine procurement plans related to software-defined radios, kamikaze drones, drone detection systems and Scorpene-class submarines.