The Army is in the process of procuring the equipment through a set of new financial powers for emergency procurements sanctioned by the Defence Ministry.
Under emergency financial powers, armed forces have been given a free hand to procure equipment worth up to ₹300 crore on a priority basis.
The two types of equipment are:
Spike-LR Anti-Tank Missiles
Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence Systems
Spike-LR
It is an Anti-Tank Missiles developed by Israel.
It is a portable anti-armor weapon system with a range of up to 4km, which can be operated in fire-and-forget mode and in the fire, observe and update mode using the fiber-optic data link.
The systems are used by infantry soldiers, special rapid reaction forces, ground forces, and helicopter aircrew.
The Spike system can work in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) mode allowing the gunner to operate from a covered position.
Igla-S
It is Very Short Range Air Defence Systems developed by Russia.
Russian made Igla-S air defense systems with man-portable systems will be replacing its predecessor Igla-M which has been with India armed forces from the early ’80s.
Russian-made 9K338 Igla-S man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), also known as the SA-24 was recently replaced by the fourth generation 9K333 Verba man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile in Russia but India decided to go with an older system even when Russians were perfectly ok to supply India with the latest Verba system.
Engagement altitude is 10 to 3500 metre.
Max engagement range is 6000 meter.
Weight of combat assets, not more than 19 kg.
MANPADS
Man-portable air-defense systems surface to air missile.
Lightweight enough to lift by a single person.
The system consists of a missile in a disposable tube, a grip stock, and a battery to charge the missile.
