Defence Ministry approves procurement of 12 Sukhoi fighter jets and 21 MiG-29 from Russia

On July 2, 2020, the Defence Ministry approved the procurement of 21 MiG-29 and 12 Sukhoi fighter jets at a cost of Rs 38,900. The procurement is being made to strengthen combat compatibility of Indian Armed forces, especially when the country is facing a stand-off with China at Line of Actual control.

Highlights

The decision to buy the fighter jets was taken at the Defence Acquisition Council meet chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Decisions taken by Defence Acquisition Council

The GoI will purchase 12 new Su-30 MKI from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Also, the council decided to upgrade the existing 59 MiG-29 aircrafts. The upgrading is estimated to cost Rs 7,418 crores.

Apart from these, the Defence Acquisition Council approved procurement of long range land attack missile with a range of 1000 km for Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. Also, the acquisition of Astra missiles was approved.

The Astra Missiles that are to be acquired are multiple variants. They have all weather day and night capability. They can be operated in both Lock-on-Before-Launch and Lock-On-After-Launch modes.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2020