Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), General Dhiraj Seth, calls on Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi
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Mega proposals — including acquisition of the HAMMER air-to-ground precision guided munitions for the Rafales and LCA Tejas aircraft, the Verba very short-range air defence systems, and Naval shipborne aerial systems — are expected to come through from the Defence Acquisition Council meeting on Friday.Chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the DAC is happening for the first time with new leadership of the armed forces coming in such as the Chief of Defence Staff General Raja Subramani, Chief of Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth and Chief of Navy Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan.One of the indigenous systems that is part of agenda for discussion to acquire is the man portable anti-tank guided missile (MP-ATGM), developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Army. The project cost is estimated to be over ₹2,600 crore, said sources.Sources said that the Army is expected to get 100 launchers along with 2300 missiles and five simulators for the weapon system to be produced by Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL). The Ministry will have to, however, look out for new production partners in the private sector for the weapon system.It is learnt that to augment deep precision strike capabilities of the Air Force and the Navy in a non-contact warfare, the Defence Ministry will also consider a proposal to buy 600 HAMMER missiles, manufactured by Bharat Electronics Ltd under Make in India programme. The Indian forces are already using HAMMERs inducted for the first time under emergency procurement powers after the Galwan face off with China in 2020. The munitions, originally produced by Safran of France, will be manufactured in a tie-up with a Indian public sector unit, sources pointed out.The IAF will utilise major chunk of the munitions to arm its fleets of Rafales and LCA Tejas fighter aircraft with HAMMERs. The Navy, on the other hand, will use them for its own 26 Rafale Marines which are supposed to be delivered from 2028 to 2030. The deal is valued at around ₹2,400 crore.The Army is looking to scale up its air defence matrix through acquisition of a large number of Russian-origin Verba very short-range air defence missile systems (V_SHORADS). The missile system — an advanced version of the Isla missiles already in the armoury of the Indian Army — would be produced by Adani Defence Ltd.Another proposal DAC is expected to take up is acquiring more numbers of K9 Vajra 155mm, a 52-calibre tracked self-propelled howitzer guns, manufactured in India by Larsen & Toubro in collaboration with South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace.A number of other significant proposals on software-defined radios, Kamikaze drones, drone detection systems and Scorpene class submarines are expected to be taken up for clearance by the DAC.Published on July 2, 2026
