(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
The Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) in future for almost all
weapons and equipment will be given to the Indian industry, Vice
Chief of Army Lt Gen BS Raju said this while inaugurating the North
Tech Symposium in Udhampur on Saturday, Trend reports citing
The Indian EXPRESS .“Future wars need to be
fought with indigenous equipment,” he said.
An AoN is accorded by the Defence Ministry for a particular
weapon system or equipment at the beginning of the procurement
process.
Over 150 Indian companies participated in the symposium,
showcasing the technologies they have on offer to the Indian armed
forces.
Addressing the participants, Raju said,“Hereafter, the
Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) will only be given to indigenous
defence manufacturers. We will come more than half a distance to
meet your aspirations. We will give you all the facilities that are
required, whether it is equipment, testing facilities, and, most
importantly, our time.”
Raju told the industry members that the Army will“not ask you
the moon” and the Preliminary Service Quality Requirements (PSQRs),
the requirements that an equipment or weapon needs to meet,“that
we are going to give are going to be reasonable so that you are
able to produce”. He said if the industry can meet 80 per cent of
“our aspirations, then we will go ahead and issue orders”.
He later told journalists that the Army is working on making the
PSQRs simpler. Army's strict PSQRs have been a cause of lament by
many industry members.
Speaking about the kind of technology the Army is looking for,
Raju said,“We need drones of all kinds which are able to do
persistent surveillance, carry payload, carry ammunition to the
place of choice, secure communication, medical equipment, troops on
ground need good habitat and so on.”
The move is part of the government push to encourage the
country's nascent defence industry and to wean off dependence on
foreign weapons, as India is one of the top importers in the world
in this segment. Indian Army has entered into contracts worth Rs
40,000 crore with the Indian industry in the last two years. Army's
immediate requirement is equipment of surveillance, especially
drones, and mountaineering gear and clothing for high-altitude.
Speaking to a few journalists, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen
Upendra Dwivedi later said there are two immediate requirements
that the Army is looking for.“The immediate requirements are what
we were exporting from outside. And where we feel that the enemy
has a technology which we need to counter. These are the two major
criteria,” he said.
Lt Gen Dwivedi said the Army is looking for domestic
alternatives to Special Clothing and Mountaineering Equipment
(SCME), and surveillance equipment, such as drones. He said
“because this technology is evolving every day, so whatever we are
doing, the adversary is able to find a counter to it. We have to
again look for a counter”.
Dwivedi said that these technologies are being developed
internationally, but“by the time they come here, they are
obsolete, if I can say. Therefore, it is imperative for us to
develop these technologies in India, so that we are also able to
evolve and graduate to a higher level, in conjunction with what the
adversary is doing, or even better than that”.
Tags:
- India
- defense industry
- army
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