NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Wednesday night cleared several major long-pending stalled projects worth over Rs 25,000 crore, including the Rs 11,929 crore one for 56 medium transport aircraft by the Tata-Airbus consortium, Rs 2,900 crore for 145 American M-777 ultralight howizers and Rs 3,000 crore for around 200 Russian Kamov light utility helicopters
The defence acquisitions council, chaired by defence minister Manohar Parrikar, also cleared the acquisition of two Boeing 777-300 (extended range) aircraft from Air India for the dedicated use by President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Narendra Modi as the Desi Air Force One, as was first reported by TOI earlier this week. The two wide-bodied aircraft will now be reconfigured for the VVIPs, which will include a an executive office and bedroom, and then fitted with advanced self-protection suites to jam and defeat hostile incoming missiles and encrypted satellite communication facilities by Boeing.
The DAC also cleared the initial construction planning process for the country's second aircraft carrier, the 65,000-tonne INS Vishal, as well as the Rs 2,700 crore acqusition of nine systems of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile for three Talwar-class stealth frigates and three Delhi-class destroyers. Developed jointly by India and Russia, the missile flies at Mach 2.8 or almost three times the speed of sound. The Army and Navy already have the BrahMos missiles, which are also to be soon tested from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter.
The defence acquisitions council, chaired by defence minister Manohar Parrikar, also cleared the acquisition of two Boeing 777-300 (extended range) aircraft from Air India for the dedicated use by President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Narendra Modi as the Desi Air Force One, as was first reported by TOI earlier this week. The two wide-bodied aircraft will now be reconfigured for the VVIPs, which will include a an executive office and bedroom, and then fitted with advanced self-protection suites to jam and defeat hostile incoming missiles and encrypted satellite communication facilities by Boeing.
The DAC also cleared the initial construction planning process for the country's second aircraft carrier, the 65,000-tonne INS Vishal, as well as the Rs 2,700 crore acqusition of nine systems of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile for three Talwar-class stealth frigates and three Delhi-class destroyers. Developed jointly by India and Russia, the missile flies at Mach 2.8 or almost three times the speed of sound. The Army and Navy already have the BrahMos missiles, which are also to be soon tested from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter.