Modi govt. approves Rs 40,000 crore for Army to buy weapons for ‘short and intense war’

NEW DELHI: Amid tension on borders with Pakistan and China, the Centre has allowed the Army to make ‘emergency procurements,’ without going through the red-tape, to be prepared for a ‘short and intense war’.

A notification issued by the government last week empowered Vice Chief of the Army to make hardware procurements up to Rs 40 thousand crore to meet critical deficiencies.

Army has identified critical deficiencies in 46 types of ammunition and certain spares for 10 types of weapon platforms. According to Defence Ministry sources, after the Uri attack, an internal audit was conducted to review Army’s preparedness.

Though the Special Forces carried out ‘surgical strikes’ 10 days later, the audit exposed several lapses in Army’s critical procurement in order to fight a ‘short and intense war’ that would last 15 days.