Round-up 2021: Major defence deals India inked in 2021 to modernise Armed Forces

To realise the dream of self-reliance in the defence sector, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre signed several major defence deals in 2021 and here are some of the deals.

Modernisation of the Indian Armed Forces has always been of prime importance to the Modi government, since it came to power in 2014. Since then, in a big boost to Athmanirbhar Bharat, India has inked several significant defence deals with the United States of America (USA), Russia and other countries to boost its defence sector.

Modernisation of the Indian Armed Forces has always been of prime importance to the Modi government, since it came to power in 2014. Since then, in a big boost to Athmanirbhar Bharat, India has inked several significant defence deals with the United States of America (USA), Russia and other countries to boost its defence sector.

To realise the dream of self-reliance in the defence sector, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre signed several major defence deals in 2021 and here are some of the deals.

AK-203 assault rifles: India and Russia inked agreements for the procurement of AK-203 assault rifles and protocols on amending cooperation in the field of Kalashnikov series small arms manufacturing. Defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart General Sergey Shoigu signed a contract for procurement of over six lakh AK-203 assault rifles through Indo-Russia Rifles Pvt Ltd and an agreement on military-technical cooperation from 2021-2031.

The two countries also signed a deal for the manufacturing of AK-203 assault rifles in India. The domestic manufacturing of the rifles is crucial to meet the shortfall of small arms and will replace the old INSAS rifles. The deal entails the production of 6,014,427 AK-203S for India's armed forces over a 10-year period.

The AK 203 rifles are to replace the in-service INSAS Rifle inducted several decades ago. The 7.62 X 39mm caliber AK-203 assault rifles has an effective range of 300 meters.

Predator drones deal: In a big step towards strengthening military ties with the US, the Indian Defence Ministry signed a $3-billion deal for armed drones from the US with the Defence Procurement Board (DPB) giving its nod even as the first units of the Russian S-400 air defence system arrived ahead of time. The procurement proposal was moved by the Indian Navy and all three services are likely to get 10 drones each.

The MQ-9B is an unmanned aerial vehicle armed with air-to-ground missiles. The medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) Predator-B drone is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance and high-altitude surveillance.

The drones will come armed with advanced systems and weapons packages and enable long-range surveillance and precision strikes. India’s drone shopping list includes the SeaGuardian/SkyGuardian variants of the MQ-9B.

Next-generation drones, robotics: In reflection of their growing defence ties, India and Israel sealed an agreement to jointly develop next generation technologies and products such as drones, robotics, artificial intelligence and quantum computing in November 2021. The Bilateral Innovation Agreement (BIA) was formed between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel's Directorate of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D).

“Under the agreement, startups and industry of both countries will work together to bring out next-generation technologies and products in the areas such as drones, robotics, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, photonics, biosensing, brain-machine interface, energy storage, wearable devices, natural language processing, etc,” said the Union Defence Ministry in a statement.

Military technology cooperation: During President Putin's much-awaited India visit, New Delhi and Moscow also signed an agreement for military technology cooperation for the next decade. They also signed the Protocol of the 20th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC).

Agreements for arms production, cooperation: India inked a pact on amending the agreement on cooperation in the field of manufacturing of the Kalashnikov series of small arms that was originally sealed in February 2019. Another agreement was signed on the protocol of the 20th IRIGC-M&MTC.