DAC approves procurement of 111 utility helicopters for Indian Navy

Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has approved the procurement of 111 utility helicopters for Indian Navy at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore.

• DAC is Union Defence Ministry's highest decision making body on capital procurement of Indian Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force).

Details:

• The procurement of 111 utility helicopters will be the first project under Defence Ministry's prestigious Strategic Partnership (SP) Model that aims at providing significant fillip to Government's 'Make in India' programme.
• Several aviation majors including Airbus (Europe), Kamov (Russia) and Bell (US) have offered their bids for this project in addition to state owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• Indian Navy will shortlist the helicopter it wants after an extensive evaluation process which will be followed by a contract where most of these helicopters will need to be built in the country in conjunction with local partners.
• The contract when finalised will result in a vibrant and wide-spread Defence industrial eco-system in the Indian Aviation Sector with private industry and MSMEs as major stakeholders.

About the Strategic Partnership (SP) Model:

• It envisages indigenous manufacturing of major defence platforms by Indian Strategic Partner, who will collaborate with foreign OEMs (original equipment manufacutures), acquire niche technologies and set up production facilities in the country.
• The model has a long-term vision of promoting India as a manufacturing hub for defence equipment.
• It will help in enhancing self-sufficiency and establishing an industrial and R&D ecosystem, capable of meeting future requirements of Indian Armed Forces.

Question:

Q. Who chaired the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) that has approved the procurement of 111 utility helicopters for Indian Navy at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore?
a. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
b. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
c. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
d. None of the above