India eyes major weapons purchase

Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday gave the go-ahead to two major proposals for procurement of precision-guided bombs from Russia and surface-to-air missiles from Israel with the deals together worth Rs 1,714 crore.

One proposal relates to procurement of 240 precision-guided bombs at a cost of Rs 1,254 crore from JSC Rosonboron Exports, Russia, an official statement said.

These bombs are used by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and “will address the deficiency of Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) in the IAF arsenal, besides enhancing the offensive capabilities of the IAF,” said the statement.

The other project pertains to procurement of 131 Barak missiles and associated equipment from Rafeal Advance Defence Systems Ltd of Israel at a cost of Rs 460 crore. These are surface-to-air missiles designed to be used as a ship-borne anti-missile defence system against anti-ship missiles.

The nod to the Missile Defence System from Israel came ahead of a proposed visit to India by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the middle of this month. Modi visited Israel last year.

The precision-guided bombs for the IAF are designed to hit a specific target, to minimise collateral damage and increase lethality against intended target.

The IAF arsenal has an acute deficiency of PGMs and the procurement from Russia will not only address the shortage but also enhance its offensive capabilities.

The procurement of the anti-ship missiles means India is looking to augment its naval strength at a time when China is stepping up its naval presence in the Indian Ocean.