Major deals with US, France, Russia likely to be discussed by Defence Acquisition Council today

Multiple important projects including the Rs 3.25 lakh crore 114 Rafale combat aircraft acquisition plan and buying a large number of Scalp cruise missiles from France, P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft from the US and air defence missiles for the Sudarshan S-400 long range Air defeare missiles are expected to be taken up for discussion by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in its meeting likely on Thursday. The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is also likely to clear a major indigenous project to buy around one lakh Vibhav point attack anti-tank mines developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

India has plans of buying 114 Rafale multirole fighter jets from France under a deal which is also being called the 'Mother of all defence deals' as it would be atleast five times bigger than any military hardware deal ever signed by the country. The Air Force also has plans to buy a significant number of Scalp cruise missiles for its existing fleet of Rafale fighter jets.

The DAC meeting is also likely to take up the case for buying six more P-8I maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare planes from the US under a deal likely to be around USD 3 billion. The meeting is also expected to approve the proposal to issue a tender to procure a large quantity of missiles for the Sudarshan air defence system, which scored multiple hits against the Pakistan Air Force in Operation Sindoor.

The tender would be issued to Russian government agencies in accordance with the new intergovernmental agreements signed between the two countries. Multiple proposals for overhauling the armoured vehicle fleet of the Indian army are also likely to be discussed at the meeting. (ANI)