Indian Navy Signs Contract of Rs 1,350 Crore with Mahindra

The defence ministry signed a Rs 1,350 crore deal with Mahindra Defence Systems Limited (MDS) on Friday for the production of 14 integrated anti-submarine warfare defence suites (IADS) for Navy front-line warships.

“The IADS has an integrated capacity for detecting enemy submarines and torpedoes at long ranges, as well as deflecting incoming hostile submarine torpedoes. It will improve the Navy's anti-submarine warfare capacity,” according to an official source.

The IADS conducts surveillance and offers inputs for signal processing and analysis to allow essential action against underwater threats using a sophisticated array of sensors.

Officials said the deal with an Indian business under the ‘Buy and Make (Indian)' category of defence procurement is a significant boost to India's ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat' goal and a substantial boost to the indigenous defence sector in technology development and manufacturing. MDS was awarded the contract after a competitive open bidding process that included extensive testing. MDS Chairman S P Shukla remarked,

"This is the first big contract with the private sector for underwater detection and danger protection."

Previously in the month of March 2021, The Defence Ministry signed a deal with MDSL to equip the Indian Army with 1,300 Light Specialist Vehicles. The 1,056 crore deal would offer a significant boost to the government's "Make in India" drive. The vehicle induction process is expected to take four years.

The Light Specialist Vehicle is a contemporary combat vehicle that will be authorized for carriage of Medium Machine Guns, Automatic Grenade Launchers, and Anti-tank Guided Missiles by various fighting groups.

MDSL designed and developed the Light Specialist Vehicle in-house. These combat vehicles are very nimble, with all-around protection against small arms fire, and will aid tiny independent detachments in the operating area that are necessary to operate this weapon platform.

This was a landmark project demonstrating the defense industry's domestic manufacturing abilities, and it will offer another milestone to the government's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan' and 'Make in India' initiatives.