No Time to Lose May 2024

Mohammad Asif Khan

Following the incursion of Chinese troops on the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh in early May 2020, the Emergency Procurement (EP) mechanism outlined in the Defence Procurement Manual of 2021 has allowed the armed forces to address crucial deficiencies in combat readiness.

EP powers were first granted to the armed forces by the ministry of defence following the 2016 Uri terror attack. These powers were introduced to help the armed forces circumvent the slow, bureaucratic system of procurement, allowing them to quickly ink contracts for essential equipment and arms.

Under these EP powers, each branch of the armed forces independently signs contracts valued at up to INR 300 crore, bypassing the lengthy procedures typically involved in acquiring new systems for modernisation by Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP). The EP provision has been extended to all three branches of the military—army, navy and air force—on four occasions, enabling them to procure various offensive and defensive systems.

The army has utilised the EP mechanism to address significant deficiencies across various areas such as firepower, drone warfare, mobility, communication and soldier personal protection, among others. The EP's main aim was to address critical operational shortcomings, particularly along the northern borders.

The emergency procurement conducted by the armed forces encompassed a range of critical systems such as remote-controlled weapon systems, air defence missiles, anti-tank missiles, satellite downlink and recording systems, tiny aperture terminals (VSAT) and portable mobile terminals.

The army is observing 2024 as the ‘Year of Technology Absorption’ to focus on modernisation and technology integration and is working on several projects to reshape and remodel the functional processes to bring in a quantum jump in its capabilities. For the army, these acquisitions also included multi-terrain vehicles, high-mobil