24.12.13

Antony clears Barak Missile deal

Defence minister A K Antony has finally bitten the bullet. With the CBI deciding to close the infamous seven-year-old Barak kickbacks case for lack of evidence, the defence ministry has cleared the long-pending “critical” naval procurement of an additional 262 Israeli Barak-I missiles for Rs.880 crore.
The Antony-led Defence Acquisitions Council also gave nod to two other delayed naval projects for 16 anti-submarine warfare warships capable of operating in “shallow waters” for Rs.13,440 crore and two diving support vessels meant for rescuing sailors from disabled submarines for Rs .,500 crore. The Rs.300 crore purchase of 41 Dhruv advanced helicopters, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, was also cleared.
“While a global tender will now be floated for the diving support vessels or DSRVs (deep-submergence rescue vessels), the ASW boats will be built in India with some foreign collaboration for torpedoes etc. The ASW boats, with a displacement below 1,000 tonne, are crucial to track and kill enemy submarines near our coast or ports,” said a source.
Both these projects have been hanging fire for long. The proposal for two DSRV-like “mini submarines” — to rescue trapped sailors from depths up to 610 metres — for instance has been stuck for over 15 years.

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