Multi-crore deals to boost defence

 Within six months of India's biggest submarine accident, the Defence Ministry has sanctioned purchasing two deep-sea submarine rescue vessels (DSRVs) to extricate sailors trapped inside a submarine in case it meets with an accident in the high seas.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister A K Antony, on Monday approved the Navy's proposal to buy two DSRVs at a total cost of Rs 1,500 crore — one each for the eastern and western naval commands. The DSRVs are among the Rs 15,680-crore worth of proposals that received the DAC's nod.

Indian Navy currently operates 13 ageing diesel electric submarines and a nuclear-powered one, which was leased from Russia. But six new submarines are under construction at Mazgaon Dock in Mumbai.

The Defence Acquisition Council had earlier decided to open a second construction line in which four submarines (out of six) would be built within the country (three at Mazgaon Dock and one at Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Visakhapatnam, on transfer of technology) whereas two would be built in the vendor's yard abroad. “Because of the submarine programme, we need rescue vessels of our own,” said a naval officer.  India currently has an agreement with the US Navy to rescue Indian crew inside a submarine that had an accident in the deep sea. India's submarine rescue capability at the moment is limited to having an old rescue bell in the old warship INS Neerikshak.

The DAC also approved a Rs 880-crore proposal to buy 262 Israeli Barak-1 missile. The purchase was stuck for seven years because of bribery allegations associated with the deal, signed during the NDA regime. The defence ministry had put the procurement on hold because of a CBI probe since 2006.

The decision to purchase the Barak missiles (with a range between 500 m and 12 km) was taken after getting the opinion from the Attorney General.

India's latest aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, is not fitted with Barak missiles at the moment. The navy wants the vessel and upcoming Kolkata-class destroyers to be fitted with these missiles . The navy had made a strong case for the air defence missile, telling the ministry it was left with only around 150 of them. In the last DAC, Antony had formed an independent group to take a final call on the issue. The council approved a Rs 13,000-crore plan to buy 16 anti-submarine shallow-water craft to replace Abhay-class anti-submarine warfare corvettes. India currently has four such ships.

For the army, the DAC cleared a proposal to acquire 41 indigenous advanced lightweight helicopters (Dhruv). In the Rs 300-crore procurement, one of the choppers would be provided to the navy.