Rushil51
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Army gun arsenal to be revived in big way | The Asian Age
The Modi government is planning to modernise the Indian Army's artillery gun arsenal in a big way. Sources said the government could be considering acquisition of over 800 of the 155mm 52-calibre artillery guns at an estimated cost of Rs 15,750 crore.
The proposed acquisition could come up before the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) now headed by new defence minister Manohar Parrikar at Saturday's crucial meeting.
Most of the guns are expected to be manufactured in India as part of the Modi government's strong push for indigenisation. The Indian Army has not acquired any new artillery gun for over 25 years.
The DAC could also consider a joint bid by Tata Sons and European manufacture Airbus to manufacture 56 transport aircraft to replace the Avro fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) at a possible cost of nearly Rs 12,000 crore.
The DAC could also consider acquisition of an additional 106 Swiss Pilatus basic trainer aircraft for the IAF at an estimated cost of about Rs 8,200 crore.
The government could insist that most of these aircraft be manufactured in India after transfer of technology from the Swiss firm. The IAF is thrilled so far at the performance of the Pilatus aircraft which had been acquired earlier.