New Delhi: In a major development, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave a go ahead for two procurement proposals. 

The first proposal is related to procurement of 240 bombs at a cost of Rs 1254 crore from M/s JSC Rosonboron Exports, Russia. These bombs, which fall under the category of Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs), are used by Indian Air Force (IAF). 

With this, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be able to cope up the deficiency of PGMs in its arsenal, besides enhancing the offensive capabilities.

Another defence proposal, which got clearance, was pertained to procurement of 131 Barak Missiles and associated equipment at a cost of Rs 460 cr under option clause from M/s Rafael Advance Defence Systems Ltd of Israel. 

These missiles are surface-to-air missiles designed to be used as a ship-borne anti-missile defence system against anti-ship missiles.

It may be noted here that the Defence Minister and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in New Delhi recently held wide-ranging talks with a focus on further boosting the bilateral defence and security ties through joint manufacture and co-development of key military platforms and weapon systems.

The Government has given the go ahead for procurement of 131 Barak missile, which is apart from the deal India was having with Israel’s Rafael Advance Defence for procurement of  Spike Anti Tank Guided Missile at a cost of $500 million and scrapped in November 2017. 

Scrapping the project, the Government asked the DRDO to produce the missiles indigenously.