Two projects include procurement of third generation anti-tank guided missiles, auxiliary power units

The Defence Ministry today accorded approval for procurement of indigenously designed and developed military equipment including anti-tank guided missiles worth over Rs 3300 crores for the armed forces.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the ministry said.

The first two projects include procurement of third generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and the auxiliary power units (APUs) for the T-72 and the T-90 battle tanks.

"While the third generation ATGM would provide ''fire and forget'' and ''top attack'' capabilities to the troops in an armoured battle, the APUs would enable incorporation of various upgrades to fire control system and night fighting capabilities of the tanks," the ministry said.

It said both these projects will be implemented under the ''Make-II'' category and will provide a boost to indigenous research and development in the private sector.

"With this, for the first time the ministry of defence has offered complex military equipment to be designed, developed and manufactured by the Indian private industry," the ministry said in a statement.

The third indigenous project pertains to procurement of discrete Electronic Warfare (EW) systems for mountains and high-altitude terrain.

The system would be designed and developed by the DRDO and manufactured by design cum production partner from the Indian industry.