Emergency Financial Powers | 30 Apr 2019

• 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.