Defence Primer

Defence Primer: India at 75
Air Force acquisitions
Cost
36 Rafale medium fighter 63000
125 Jaguar re-engining and upgrade 20000
Indo-Russian fifth generation fighter 25000
56 Avro aircraft replacement aircraft 15000
20 Hawk advanced jet trainers 2000
22 Apache AH-64E attack helicopters 8500
15 Chinook CH-47F heavy lift helicopters 6600
384 Light Utility Helicopters (LuH) 13500
Surface-to-air missiles 30000
Total new Air Force acquisitions 1,72,600
Army acquisitions
Cost
Artillery gun procurements (sanctioned) 28450
2 regiments Pinaka rocket launchers 5000
Short and medium range surface-to-air missiles 30000
Short range surface-to-air missiles 30000
Tactical Communications System (Make project) 20000
Battlefield Management System (Make project) 50000
Rifles, carbines, machine guns and sights 12000
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 6000
Total new army acquisitions 1,81,450
New acquisitions (all three services) 6,50,850
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for in this budget. After catering for committed liabilities, the navy’s capital
allocation needs to rise this year to Rs 53,591 crore ($8 billion).
The air force, meanwhile, seeks to conclude contracts for the exorbitantly
priced Rafale fighter, to extend the Jaguar fighter’s service life, to start codeveloping
a fifth-generation fighter with Russia, and to procure a range
of helicopters. Contracts worth Rs 1,72,600 crore ($25.5 billion) require
immediately conclusion, needing the allocation of Rs 17,260 crorein 2016-
17, over and above what was committed last year. That takes the air force’s
capital allocation to Rs 48,741 crore ($7.2 billion).
This necessarily incomplete calculation would raise the 2016-17 capital
allocation to Rs 1,63,561 crore ($24.2 billion), still somewhat less than the
revenue allocation. This would require the defence budget to be boosted by
almost 40 per cent – from Rs 2,46,727 crore ($36.5 billion) in the current
year, to Rs 3,43,182 crore ($50.8 billion) in 2016-17. This would raise the