NEW DELHI – Pakistan faces a big challenge of World’s largest militaryupgrade plan worth $130 billion from India.
The proposed plan to be executed in 5 years include over 110 new fighterjets, Naval stealth warships and submarines and state of the art equipmentfor Indian Military.
After facing humiliation from Pakistan Air Force over failed Balakotstrikes aftermath, India has unveiled largest ever mega Military upgradeplan of it’s history worth $130 billion.
Indian government unveils a mega plan to spend $130 billion to bolstercombat capability of the armed forces in the next five to seven years,according to an official document.
Official sources said the government has decided on a broad plan to speedup modernisation of the Army, Navy and the Air Force under which a range ofcritical weapons, missiles, fighter jets, submarines and warships will beprocured in the next few years.
They said the government’s immediate priority is to fast-track infantrymodernisation, including procuring 2,600 infantry combat vehicles and 1,700future-ready combat vehicles for the Indian Army.
Another key priority is to procure 110 multirole fighter aircraft for theIAF.
“The government will spend $130 billion for fleet modernisation in the next5-7 years across all armed forces,” the official document stated.
The armed forces have been pushing for adequate allocation of funds so thatthey are well prepared to deal with the possibility of a “two-front” war onboth northern and western borders.
Sources said government is aware of China significantly ramping up its airand naval powers, adding the aim is to equip both the the Indian Air Forceand the Indian Navy with capabilities at par with its adversaries.
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To bolster its operational capability, the Navy has already finalised aplan to have 200 ships, 500 aircraft and 24 attack submarines in the next3-4 years. At present, the Navy has around 132 ships, 220 aircraft and 15submarines.
The sources said the government is also determined to significantly enhanceIAF’s overall combat capabilities and a detailed plan is being finalised.
The government is also working on a mega defence project to make theairspace over almost all its major cities, including Delhi and Mumbai,virtually impregnable, the sources said.
It is also inducting the first batch of its intercontinental ballisticmissile system — Agni V — which is expected to significantly bolster thecountry’s air defence system.
The missile, with a strike range of 5,000 km, is capable of carrying anuclear warhead. Very few countries, including the US, China, Russia,France and North Korea, have intercontinental ballistic missiles.
In its missile armoury, India currently has Agni-1 with a 700 km range,Agni-2 with a 2,000-km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with 2,500 km to more than3,500-km range.
The sources said the government’s focus will be to develop the domesticdefence industry and key policy initiatives are expected to be rolled outfor it in the next couple of months.
