Torpedoes, smart ammunition, and about a hundred guns (the Coast Guard will get some) are on the anvil for the Navy when the next Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, meets.
The defence ministry is working on a convenient date in September. The DAC includes the Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, the three service chiefs, the Defence Secretary and the chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The torpedoes are the advanced light-weight variety and will be indigenously made. The smart ammunition being considered will have better guidance systems and be more accurate, besides having enhanced ranges. This is particularly important, being one of the lessons learnt from Operation Sindoor, the attack on terrorist establishments in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) and the fighting after that for four days.
The Navy and the Coast Guard also want guns to be placed on warships — they will fall under the Make 2 category. This means, under the defence ministry rules, that Indian firms will design and manufacture the weapons, funding it themselves, but there will be an assurance from the armed forces of eventual purchase.
The Indian Air Force is looking at the Astra, the indigenously developed air-to-air missile, and work on a longer range may be necessary. Currently, it has a range of about 100 km, but a longer-range variant can be more effective. Besides, there will be a requirement for weapons that were so successfully used during Operation Sindoor, including the Brahmos, a cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia and also kamikaze drones.