The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved capital acquisition proposals worth approximately Rs 7,800 crore that included procurement of electronic warfare suite for Mi-17 V5 helicopters.

The proposals approved by the DAC included one on procurement of 7.62x51 mm Light Machine Gun (LMG) and another on acquisition of weapons for MH-60R helicopters of the Indian Navy.

To enhance the efficiency of the Indian Air Force, the DAC has granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement and installation of Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite on Mi-17 V5 helicopters under Buy (Indian-IDDM) category. The EW suite will be procured from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

What is the role of the Defence Acquisition Council?

• Pursuant to the recommendations made by the group of ministers on reforming the national security system in February 2001, a separate, dedicated structure for defence procurement was set up.

• In continuation of its efforts to streamline defence procurement procedures and to reduce timelines so as to ensure timely delivery of equipment to the armed forces, various measures to simplify the defence procurement procedure have been undertaken.

• A Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) was created as an overarching structure with the defence minister as its chairman.

• The DAC is the highest decision-making body of the defence ministry on procurement.

• The defence minister is the chairman of DAC. Its members include Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force.

• The main objective of the DAC is to ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the armed forces in terms of capabilities sought and time frame prescribed by optimally utilizing the allocated budgetary resources.

Its functions include:

i)  Give in principle approval of a 15 years Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) for defence forces.

ii) Accord of acceptance of necessity to acquisition proposals. 

iii) Categorisation of the acquisition proposals relating to ‘Buy’, ‘Buy & Make’ and ‘Make’. 

iv) Look into issues relating to single vendor clearance. 

v) Take decisions regarding ‘offset’ provisions in respect of acquisition proposals above Rs 300 crore.

vi) Take decisions regarding Transfer of Technology under the ‘Buy & Make’ category of acquisition proposals. 

vii) Field trial evaluation.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store