Centre go-ahead for procurement of UAVs

The Cabinet Committee on Security today cleared acquisition of 12 Nishant unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) worth Rs 1.5 crore for the Army. T...

The Cabinet Committee on Security today cleared acquisition of 12 Nishant unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) worth Rs 1.5 crore for the Army. The UAVs will be deployed in the Western and Northern sectors for reconnaissance and surveillance missions along with Israeli-made Heron and Searcher Drones already in use by the Army.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after the CCS meeting that four UAVs and one command-control system would be procured in the first phase, while the remaining eight along with two more systems would be procured subsequently.

The CCS also decided to computerise the inventories of the Army Ordinance Corps, which caters to 4,89,000 items, costing over Rs 50,000 crore. The computerisation of Defence stores was initiated through a pilot project in 1994 and will be completed in two phases at a cost of Rs 265 crore. The purchase of two integrated electronic warfare communications systems (IEWCS) was also approved for J-K and the North-East.

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Mukherjee also said the Government has decided to extend the existing ban on insurgent groups National Liberation Front of Tripura and the All Tripura Tiger Front for another two years.

The meeting was attended by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh.

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