The Army has approved five Project Sanction Orders (PSOs) for development of niche technology by the Indian industry under Make-II route of defence procurement. The projects include High Frequency Man Packed Software Defined Radios (HFSDR), drone kill systems, Infantry Training Weapon Simulator (IWTS), Medium Range Precision Kill Systems (MRPKS) and 155mm Terminally Guided Munitions (TGM).
Make II projects are essentially industry funded projects involving design, development and innovative solutions by Indian vendors for development of prototypes. An assurance of order is given after successful prototype development.
The Army is already progressing 43 projects under the Make II procedure of capital acquisition. Seventeen out of 43 projects have been initiated through suo motu proposals received from the industry, which has generated enthusiasm and confidence in the Indian defence industry for participation in the “Make procedure”, it said in a statement.
“The PSO for development of prototype of HFSDR under Make-II scheme has been issued to 14 Developing Agencies (DA). These radio sets will replace the existing HF radio sets in the inventory, which have limited data handling capability and obsolete technology,” Army said in a statement.
Drone kill systems
Similarly, PSO given to 18 DAs for procurement of 35 sets of drone kill systems under the Make-II scheme, post successful development of prototype. The project is reserved for start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Drone kill system is a hard kill anti-drone system against low Radio Cross Section drones.
The IWTS is the first triservice Make-II project with the Army as the lead service, the statement said. The PSO has been issued to four DAs to develop the prototype for subsequent procurement of 125 systems. This is also reserved for MSMEs and start-ups.
Similarly, PSO has been issued to six DAs for development of 155 mm TGMs while PSO has been issued to 15 DAs for developing a prototype of MRPKS.
On the 155mm TGM, the Army said variants of the ammunition have been held in the inventory, sans the precision strike capability. The Indian Army therefore plans to procure approximately 2000 rounds of 155mm TGM against High Value Targets with assured precision and lethality for mission accomplishment and minimum collateral damage, it stated.
On the MRPKS, the Army said post successful development of the prototype, it intends to procure 10 sets of them. The MRPKS, once launched can ‘loiter’ in the air for up to two hours and can acquire, designate and engage real-time high value targets up to 40 km, the statement said.
On the progress on Make-II progress so far, the statement added that 22 out of 43 projects are now in prototype development stage, which is 66% of projects by cost, ₹18,000 crore out of ₹27,000 crore.
