After Blacklisting Israeli Firm, India Eyes Russia To Procure Ammunition

New Delhi, July 23, IRNA – After blacklisting Israeli Military Industry (IMI), India eyes Russia for procuring ammunition. Facing a critical shortage of ammunition for Army's fleet of T-90 and T-72 tanks after the blacklisting of an Israeli firm, the Defense Ministry is now looking to procure these shells from Russia. The severe shortage of tank ammunition was first highlighted by then Army Chief General V K Singh in a top secret letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March this year which later found its way to the media. After the blacklisting of supplier of the FSAPDS (Fin Stabilized Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot) used by T-90 and T-72 tanks, Russia has now been approached for supplying these tank shells, PTI news agency quoted Defense Ministry sources as saying here. A contract negotiation team under a Joint Secretary-level official had also gone to Moscow recently to discuss the price of FSAPDS ammunition but further parleys will have to be held to decide on the cost issue, they said. To avoid such shortages in future, the Defense Ministry is also seeking a transfer of technology from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to produce the ammunition endogenously. General Singh had pointed out in his letter that only three to four days of this particular ammunition was left in the inventory of the armored regiments. Later on, the Army had also informed the Standing Committee on Defense about the shortage and how the situation had worsened by the recent blacklisting of its supplier Israeli Military Industry (IMI). Recently, the Army Headquarters had initiated the process to procure within 12 to 18 months around 75,000 to one lakh rounds of FSAPDS ammunition from global sources but apparently not much progress has been made so far. After the issues were brought out by the then Army Chief, Defense Minister A K Antony had taken urgent steps to address them and has held several rounds of meetings with Army and Defense Ministry officials to review preparedness and do away with the stumbling blocks in the modernization process. General Singh's letter had highlighted the obsolescence of the air defense systems in the Army and to address the issue, the Defense Minister has cleared the procurement of quick reaction surface-to-air missile systems for eight new regiments that are to come up. Likewise, the procurement for 145 Ultra-Light Howitzers (ULH) from the US has also been cleared by the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC).