Indian Army progressing Rs 6,800 crore indigenous shoulder-fired missile projects for China, Pakistan borders

The Indian Army is progressing two cases worth over Rs 6,800 crore for developing Very Short Range Air Defence Systems indigenously amid shortages in the inventory of shoulder-fired missiles to tackle aerial threats on borders with China and Pakistan. Defence Ministry officials said the current VSHORAD missiles in the inventory of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force are all with lR homing guidance systems and the Igla 1M VSHORAD missile system was inducted in 1989 and was planned for de-induction in 2013. "At present, there is a Rs 4800 crore project in which a public sector unit headquartered in Hyderabad and a private sector Pune-based firm have been engaged for developing a laser beam riding VSHORADS which would be used by the forces to protect the borders to provide protection from enemy drones, fighter aircraft and choppers," defence forces' officials told news agency ANI. In the meanwhile, the Indian Army and the Air Force used the Emergency Procurement powers to buy around 96 launchers of the Russian Igla of which 48 have already arrived as part of the first tranche of the orders given in EP-1 while 48 are expected to be delivered in near future.