Major boost for Indian Army: Troops to get 6 submarines, 5000 tank-busting missiles from France

New Delhi: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman cleared an Rs 40,000-crore project to build six submarines for the Indian Navy and cleared the proposal to acquire 5,000 Milan anti-tank guided missiles from France for the Indian Army.

The approval of indigenous construction of six submarines for the Indian Navy will be the second project under Ministry of Defence’s ambitious strategic partnership model aimed at boosting the Centre’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ program.

DAC chaired by @DefenceMinIndia approves indigenous construction of six submarines @ Rs 40K Cr. It is 2nd project under MOD's ambitious Strategic Partnership Model aiming to boost GoI's 'Make in India' program. Indigenous production of 111 Utility Heptrs already approved Aug '18 pic.twitter.com/XJFixXwvSR

— Defence Spokesperson (@SpokespersonMoD) January 31, 2019

 
This project will be second such project following indigenous production of 111 naval Utility Helicopters that was approved in August 2018. 

According to a senior official, the construction of six submarines will provide a major boost to the existing submarine design and manufacturing eco-system in India through the transfer of design and equipment technology as well as necessary skill sets.

It was earlier reported that the Indian Army was planning to buy Milan 2T anti-tank guided missiles from France. This will significantly bolster the Army’s capability to thwart off advancing armoured divisions of the enemy.

An anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-armour guided missile or anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) is a missile that is created to destroy vehicles that are heavily armoured.