DAC nod for buying 38 trainer aircraft

The Defence Acquisition Council on Saturday approved buying 38 additional Pilatus basic trainer aircraft for the Air Force and building 12 anti-mine warship for the Navy in Goa with imported equipment.

Chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the DAC cleared procurement of Pilatus trainers from Switzerland using the “option clause” in the 2012 agreement to buy 75 of those aircraft for Rs 2,900 crore. The cost of the 38 aircraft is expected to be in the same range. Since India requires 181 trainer aircraft, HTT-40 of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will make up the rest of the fleet, Defence Ministry sources said.

In addition, the DAC gave its nod to buy one C-130J Super Hercules from the US at a cost of Rs 533 crore to replace an aircraft in the Super Hercules fleet that crashed about two years ago.

The 12 mine counter measure vessels would be constructed at the Goa Shipyard Limited in a completely new process at a cost of Rs 32640 crore. The technology would come from a foreign vendor as these warships are to be constructed under the “buy and make” category of the defence procurement procedure.