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| India-Pakistan |
| Indian Defence Budget likely to go up by 11 per cent |
| 2007-02-15 |
| The Government, in an effort to sustain the momentum of the ongoing modernisation of the Armed Forces, is likely to enhance the Defence Budget for the next year by 11 to 12 per cent. The expected hike from this year's Budget of Rs 89,000 crore will be used for the induction of much-needed operational weapons and platforms, including artillery guns, reconnaissance planes, multi-role fighter jets, electronic warfare equipment and avionics. The top political leadership appreciates the fact that the Armed Forces are keen to acquire new weapon systems and upgrade the existing platforms wherever feasible to fill the operational gaps arising due to ageing of the inventory. In fact, this phenomenon has remained the central focus of the budgetary grants for the past five or six years and Finance Minister P Chidambaram will stick to this yardstick this year too, sources said on Thursday. The last few years have seen rapid upgradation of systems and platforms ranging from artillery guns to planes besides procuring new systems and all these systems are necessary to maintain operational preparedness and military balance in the subcontinent. Modernisation started in the right earnest during the NDA regime and the UPA Government has carried on thereby assuring continuity and a clear signal to the Armed Forces that finances will not be a problem for acquisitions. Meanwhile, the process of selecting the required systems was also completed during the last financial year and the Defence Ministry will have to start meeting the contractual obligations of payments in the next fiscal. Some of the major deals include Smerch multi-barrel rocket launcher to be purchased from Russia for the Army and inking of the contract for eight to ten long-range maritime patrol aircraft for the Navy, sources said. They also said the Budget is likely to factor in financial commitment after the selection of the vendor for the $10 billion deal for 126 multi-role fighter aircraft for the IAF. The race for the 126-aircraft deal is hotting up as the request for proposal (RFP) by India is slated to be floated soon and the Government is likely to finish the entire process of technical evaluation, price negotiations and shortlisting the vendor by the middle of the next year. This deal is the biggest in the last three decades. Six competitors, including F-16, F-18 (US), Gripen (Sweden), MIG-35 (Russia), Rafael (France) and Eurofighter (UK) are vying for the contract and they displayed the unique capabilities of their aircraft during the international Aero Show in Bangalore last week. Besides this big ticket deal, the hike will also cater for pending upgrades for the frontline Mirage fighter jets in France and signing of the deal between India and Russia for 40 more SU-30 fighter jets before the end of this financial year, sources said. The IAF will also need money for acquiring medium level radar systems to bolster its air defence network and the Government has cleared all these deals, they said. Chidambaram will also have to make provisions for acquisition of MIG-29K fighter jets for aircraft carrier Gorshkov rechristened INS Vikramditya. The Navy is procuring the aircraft carrier from Russia and its refurbishment is going at present in Russia as per Indian specifications. The carrier will join service by the end of next year and fill the void created by the decommissioning of INS Vikrant 10 years ago. The Army is engaged in modernising its infantry and artillery and has planned to spend about Rs 7,000 crore in the next three years to equip its infantry soldiers with the state-of-the-art weapons. The Army is also enhancing its capabilities to fight wars by acquiring equipment for its tanks, artillery and infantry troops. |
| Posted by:john |
| #4 Italian First Minister Prodi reviews troops during a welcome ceremony in India. |
| Posted by: john 2007-02-15 19:24 |
| #3 is that with an accent grave or agoo? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-02-15 18:27 |
| #2 Six competitors, including F-16, F-18 (US), Gripen (Sweden), MIG-35 (Russia), Rafael (France) and Eurofighter (UK) are vying for the contract and they displayed the unique capabilities of their aircraft during the international Aero Show in Bangalore last week. I believe they are referring to the Rafale. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-02-15 18:26 |
| #1 This 11% increase is more than 50% of Pakistan's defence budget |
| Posted by: john 2007-02-15 17:21 |