The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on March 1 signed five major capital acquisition contracts worth ₹39,125.39 crore for the three services. Of the five contracts, one was with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for procurement of aero-engines for MiG-29 aircraft, two with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for procurement of Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) and High-Power Radar (HPR) and two with BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) for procurement of BrahMos missiles and ship borne BrahMos cruise missile systems.

“These deals will further strengthen indigenous capabilities, save foreign exchange and reduce dependency on foreign origin equipment manufactures in future,” MoD said in a statement. The contracts were exchanged in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at South Block.

The contract for RD-33 aero engines for MiG-29 aircraft was signed with HAL at a cost of ₹5,249.72 crore and will be manufactured by the Koraput Division of HAL manufactured under Transfer of Technology (TOT) license from the Russian OEM. The programme will focus on indigenisation of several high value critical components, which would help increase the indigenous content of future Repair and Overhaul (ROH) tasks of RD-33 aero-engines, the Ministry said. The Indian Air Force (IAF) operates three squadrons of MiG-29UPG which have been upgraded. “These aero engines are expected to fulfil the need of Indian Air Force (IAF) to sustain the operational capability of the MiG-29 fleet for the residual service life.”

OF the two contracts with L&T, the contract for CIWS is worth ₹7,668.82 crore while the deal for HPR is at a cost of ₹5,700.13 crore. The CIWS will provide terminal air defence to select locations of the country, the statement said adding that direct and indirect employment generated by this project would be approximately average of 2,400 persons per year over a period of five years.

The HPRs contracted will replace existing long-range radars of the IAF with modern active aperture phased array-based HPR with advanced surveillance features, according to the statement and will significantly enhance the terrestrial air defence capabilities of IAF with integration of sophisticated sensors capable of detection of small radar cross section targets. “It will be a boost to indigenous radar manufacturing technology as it would be first of its kind radar built by the private sector in India,” the statement said. “The direct and indirect employment generated by this project would approximately average of 1,000 people/year over the period of five years.”

Two contracts were signed with BAPL, one for procurement of missile at a cost of ₹19,518.65 crore and for procurement of ship borne BrahMos system at a cost of ₹988.07 crore. “These missiles would be utilized to meet combat outfit and training requirements of Indian Navy. This project is likely to generate employment of nine lakh man-days in Joint Venture entity and around 135 lakh man-days in ancillary industries [including MSMEs] of the country,” the MoD said on the larger BrahMos contract.

On the ship-borne BrahMos system the MoD said it is the Indian Navy’s primary weapon for maritime strike operations fitted onboard various frontline warships. The system is capable of hitting land or sea targets from extended ranges with pinpoint accuracy at supersonic speeds, it said adding the project is likely to generate employment of around 60,000 man-days over a period of 7-8 years.

BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, a joint development between India and Russia, has been inducted by all the three services.