NEW DELHI: The Centre has given Army vice-chief Sarath Chand full financial powers to procure critical ammunition and spares to maintain an optimum level to fight a short intense war following “critical voids” in capabilities of the Army. The major decision means procurement process of such ammunition and equipment that would take months would be completed much faster.The procurement of critical ammunition will be done for most of 46 types of ammunition the Army uses.The procurement of spares under the new scheme will be for 10 different types of equipment. The Army faces severe shortage in ammunition, mainly for artillery guns, tanks, air defence and certain infantry weapons, which will make it very difficult to fight a short intense war that lasts for 10 to 15 days.“The Army’s vice-chief has been notified with full financial powers to procure critical ammunition and spares to maintain optimum levels,” a top defence ministry official said. “By giving full financial powers to the Army vice-chief, the procurement of such equipment will be done faster. This is the revenue route for in-service equipment and there will be no need to head to the Defence Acquisition Council (headed by defence minister Arun Jaitley) or the Cabinet Committee on Security, for procuring such critical equipment. This will ensure that the time taken in procuring such equipment will reduce tremendously,” the official said.The government has conducted faster procurement in the past when it realised that there were several voids in the capabilities of the Army, mainly in ammunition.“To make up for the voids, emergency powers were given to the Army vice-chief for three months.It was extended for three more months. During this time, 19 contracts worth `12,000 crore were signed. The six months expired in March. Granting full financial powers to the vice-chief is meant to ensure an optimum level to fight a short intense war,” the official added. In addition, the Army also intends to have enough ammunition to fight a 40-days intense war or a full-scale war.