Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Friday signed a contract worth Rs 1,349.95 crores with Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS) Limited for buying 14 Integrated Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Defence Suites (IADS) for the Indian Navy.
According to the Defence Ministry, the contract with an Indian firm under the 'Buy and Make (Indian)' category of defence procurement is an important boost to India's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' mission and provides a major fillip to the indigenous defence industry in technology development and production.
The system will enhance anti-submarine warfare capability of Indian Navy, said the Ministry.
Competitive bids from Indian companies were invited by MoD through open tender wherein the systems fielded were put through detailed trials at sea to prove their capability, said MDS in an official statement.
The IADS is a high-end underwater equipment that uses latest technology. It is designed to detect and protect warships from underwater threats. It is a versatile system capable of operations from all sizes of warships - small, medium and large. The complex array of sensors in water undertakes surveillance and provides inputs for signal processing and analysis, to enable necessary action.
As per the official statement from MDS, SP Shukla, Chairman, Mahindra Defence Systems Limited, said, "It is the first major contract with the private sector meant for underwater detection and protection from threats. This contract once again epitomizes the success of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative."
It further stated that this advanced technology system is the first of its kind being developed by an Indian company for Indian Navy. Mahindra Defence qualified by proving the capability of the system through comprehensive testing by the Indian MoD in actual operations at sea before being declared as winner on commercial bid. Mahindra Defence would be supplying 14 IADS Systems for the Indian Navy warships.
( With inputs from ANI )
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