Defence Acquisition Council Greenlights ₹52,000 Crore Boost for Armed Forces

In a major push to enhance the combat readiness and operational capabilities of the Indian Armed Forces, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN)—the essential in-principle administrative approval—for multiple capital procurement proposals.

The meeting, chaired by Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) Shri Rajnath Singh on July 3, 2026, cleared defense projects estimated at approximately ₹52,000 crore. The approvals span across advanced electronic warfare, localized air defense systems, stealth naval mines, and high-altitude surveillance technologies for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Indian Army: Advanced EW and Multi-Layered Air Defense

The largest share of the current acquisition cycle focuses on upgrading the Indian Army's tactical air defense and anti-armor capabilities to counter modern asymmetrical battlefield threats:

• 'AKASH TARANG' Anti-UAV Electronic Warfare System: Designed to provide specialized, localized anti-drone defense rings to shield frontline Army formations from hostile drone swarms and loitering munitions.

• Jet-Based Kamikaze Drone Systems: High-speed strike assets engineered to provide cost-effective electronic warfare resilience, combined with heavy payload lethality and high mid-flight survivability.

• Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) Systems: Lightweight, highly mobile missile networks built to scale up Infantry defenses against hostile tanks and heavy armored columns.

• Very Short-Range Air Defence System (V-SHORADS): Equipped with cutting-edge multi-spectral sensing units to maintain high precision and counter-measure resilience against incoming low-altitude aerial threats.

• Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) Weapon Systems: Engineered to provide regional, multi-layered air defense cover against advanced stand-off aerial targets.

• Active Protection System for Tanks: An onboard defensive suite built to intercept incoming anti-tank projectiles, substantially upgrading the frontline survivability of the Army's mechanized fleets.

Indian Navy: Enhanced Sea Denial and Next-Gen Propulsion

The naval approvals emphasize coastal blocking, maritime surveillance, and domestic testing frameworks for future warships:

• Multi Influence Ground Mine (MIGM): High-tech sea mines designed to restrict, deter, and deny freedom of movement to adversarial vessels in strategic sea lanes.

• Naval Shipborne Unmanned Aerial System (NSUAS): Fleet-deployed drones outfitted with advanced electro-optical and tracking sensors to maximize real-time situational awareness across blue-water theaters.

• Land-Based Testing Facility (LBTF) for Electric Propulsion: The establishment of a dedicated domestic onshore facility to test heavy motors and integrated electric propulsion mechanisms for next-generation Indian naval warships.

Indian Air Force: Persistent Stratospheric Surveillance

The Air Force secured approvals targeting long-endurance eye-in-the-sky technologies to monitor border areas:

• Fixed-Wing Based High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (FW-HAPS): Stratospheric platforms designed to operate above commercial airspace for weeks at a time. These units will conduct persistent Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR), alongside critical telecommunications backup and remote sensing operations.