The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on March 1 signed five major capital acquisition contracts worth ₹39,125.39 crore for the three services. Of the five contracts, one was with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for procurement of aero-engines for MiG-29 aircraft, two with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for procurement of Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) and High-Power Radar (HPR) and two with BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) for procurement of BrahMos missiles and ship borne BrahMos cruise missile systems.
“These deals will further strengthen indigenous capabilities, save foreign exchange and reduce dependency on foreign origin equipment manufactures in future,” MoD said in a statement. The contracts were exchanged in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at South Block.
The contract for RD-33 aero engines for MiG-29 aircraft was signed with HAL at a cost of ₹5,249.72 crore and will be manufactured by the Koraput Division of HAL manufactured under Transfer of Technology (TOT) license from the Russian OEM. The programme will focus on indigenisation of several high value critical components, which would help increase the indigenous content of future Repair and Overhaul (ROH) tasks of RD-33 aero-engines, the Ministry said. The Indian Air Force (IAF) operates three squadrons of Mi-29UPG which have been upgraded. “These aero engines are expected to fulfill the need of Indian Air Force (IAF) to sustain the operational capability of the MiG-29 fleet for the residual service life.”
