Defence Ministry approves purchase of 15 maritime surveillance aircraft for Navy, Indian Coast Guard: Sources

The Defence Ministry has approved the purchase of nine maritime surveillance aircraft for the Indian Navy and six maritime patrol aircraft for the Indian Coast Guard, said defence sources on Friday.

The 15 maritime patrol planes would be modelled on the Made in India C-295 transport aircraft and the worth of the projects is around Rs 29,000 crore, the sources added.

The transport aircraft would be equipped with the required radars and sensors and turned into a maritime patrol plane by the Defence Research and Development Organisation's Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), defence officials said.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence also signed a Rs 1,752.13-crore contract with a Kanpur-based firm for manufacturing and supply of 463 indigenously built 12.7 mm stabilised remote control guns for the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.

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This acquisition will provide a further boost to the vision of "Aatmanirbharta in Defence", the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

"This contract will also open up a large avenue in defence manufacturing for over 125 Indian vendors and Defence PSUs for over a period of five years," it added.

With inputs from agencies