DEFENCE ACQUISITION COUNCIL (DAC)
Defence Acquisition Council approves amendment to MQ-9B UAV deal with U.S. The agreement for 31 MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from General Atomics of the US has been evaluated and authorized by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). A plan for the scheduled refurbishment of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya later this year was also authorized by the DAC.
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC):
The Defence Ministry's highest decision-making body, the DAC, decides on new policies and capital purchases for the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard.
It was established in 2001 after the Kargil War (1999) in response to the Group of Ministers' recommendations on ‘Reforming the National Security System’.
Composition:
The Minister of Defence is the Chairman of the Council.
Its members include the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Functions:
It creates rules and regulations to guarantee accountability, efficiency, and transparency throughout the purchase process.
Give in principle approval of a 15 yearsLong Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) for defence forces.
Accord of acceptance of necessity to acquisition proposals.
Organizing the purchase proposals into three categories: "Buy," "Buy & Make," and "Make."
Examine matters concerning clearance for a single vendor.
Make judgments about technology transfer under the "Buy & Make" purchase proposal category.
Evaluation of a field trial.
MQ-9B HALE UAV
The MQ-9B drone is a version of the MQ-9 “Reaper”.
It has two models: Sky Guardian and Sea Guardian.
Built by the General Atomics.
The drone can fly over 40,000 feet high, which makes it useful for watching the Himalayan border areas.
Perfect for long surveillance missions as it can stay in the air for up to 40 hours.
It has advanced features like automatic take-off and landing, a system to avoid other objects, secure GPS, and encrypted communications.
Can offer 80% of a manned aircraft’s capabilities at 20% of the cost per hour.
Deployment:
The drones are planned to be deployed at four places, including INS Rajaji near Chennai and Porbandar in Gujarat, by the Indian Navy.
The other two services will keep them jointly at two bases in Sarsawa and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh at Air Force bases due to long runway requirements.
Including 15 Sea Guardians for the Indian Navy and 16 Sky Guardians (eight each for the Indian Army and Air Force), India is looking to procure 31 MQ-9B UAVs. The Navy can monitor broad areas economically with the Sea Guardian model than using manned aircraft. These drones will assist the Army and Air Force in keeping an eye on border movements, particularly with China.
