India Clears $12.5B Defense Deals, Adds Arudhra Naval Radar
India’s Defence Acquisition Council approved roughly $12.5 billion in military purchases on September 7, 2026, clearing new Arudhra 4D radars and an indigenous marine gas turbine for the Navy alongside a wide slate of Army and Air Force equipment, with 98 percent of the value earmarked for domestic industry.
What Happened
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) — the in-principle approval that opens formal tendering — for capital acquisition proposals worth approximately ₹1.10 lakh crore (about $12.5 billion) at a meeting on September 7, 2026, the Ministry of Defence announced. The package spans all three services and, according to the ministry, roughly 98 percent of the total value will be sourced from Indian industry.
For the Navy, the council cleared the procurement of Arudhra medium-power radars to replace ageing Air Route Surveillance Radars at naval air stations, and separately approved the design, development and eventual procurement of an indigenous Marine Gas Turbine (MGT) for warship propulsion. For the Army, the DAC approved Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance vehicles, high-mobility vehicles, self-propelled mechanical mine layers, additional Advanced Light Helicopters, trawl tanks and the Sarvatra mobile bridging system. For the Air Force and joint operations, it cleared Ground-Based Multi-Purpose Jammers (GBMPJ) to disrupt adversary radars and approved rollout of the Defence Forces Secure Access Card (DEFSAC), an RFID-based smart-card system replacing paper identity credentials across the armed forces.
An AoN is not a signed contract. It formally recognizes the requirement and authorizes the ministry to proceed to the Request for Proposal stage, after which trials, commercial negotiations and final contract signing typically follow over subsequent months or years.
The Product/System
Arudhra Radar
Arudhra is a 4D active electronically scanned array (AESA) medium-power radar designed by DRDO’s Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) and manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Operating in the S-band, the rotating phased-array system resolves range, azimuth, height and Doppler velocity simultaneously, giving it a claimed instrumented range of 400 km and the ability to detect a 2-square-meter target out to roughly 300 km. Altitude coverage runs from 100 meters to 30 km, and the radar can shift to a higher-elevation tracking mode to follow rockets and artillery projectiles. It has previously been fielded by the Indian Air Force; the new DAC clearance extends it to Navy air stations in place of legacy surveillance radars.
Indigenous Marine Gas Turbine
India’s frontline surface combatants currently rely on imported gas turbines, chiefly from Ukraine’s Zorya-Mashproekt and the US-based GE Aerospace, for main propulsion. The Navy has been building toward domestic alternatives in stages: Bharat Forge has been contracted for smaller 1.25 MW marine gas turbine generators, and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has separately been developing a larger 24–28 MW class turbine intended for frontline warship propulsion, with a roadmap of prototype testing ahead of a planned production run. The September 7 AoN advances the design-and-development track for this class of engine, though the ministry’s announcement did not specify which industry partner or power rating will be pursued through this particular approval.
Who Uses It
Arudhra radars are already operational with the Indian Air Force; the Indian Navy will become a new operator once contracts are finalized and units are delivered to naval air stations. No export customer has been identified — the program remains an Indian government-to-domestic-industry acquisition rather than an FMS or export case.
Procurement History
The marine gas turbine push follows a February 2026 DAC approval for a smaller-class 4 MW turbine generator and an August 2026 announcement that Bharat Forge would begin trials of its 1.25 MW unit, indicating the September 7 clearance sits within a broader, multi-track indigenization effort rather than a single standalone program. It also follows an August 2026 government decision to transfer DRDO-developed conventional missile technologies to private industry, part of a wider pattern this year of shifting production of DRDO-origin systems toward domestic manufacturers under India’s “Atmanirbharata” (self-reliance) push — a push that has also touched troubled programs such as the Tejas Mk1A fighter’s stalled engine deliveries and the governance overhaul under way at BrahMos Aerospace.
Global Competitors
In the naval air-surveillance radar category, Arudhra competes conceptually with Western systems such as Thales’ Ground Master family and Lockheed Martin’s TPS-77, as well as Chinese and Russian S-band air-surveillance radars increasingly exported across Africa and Asia. In marine gas turbines, the segment India is trying to enter domestically is dominated internationally by GE Aerospace’s LM2500 series and Ukraine’s Zorya-Mashproekt UGT line, both widely used aboard NATO and partner-nation frigates and destroyers.
Why It Matters
The clearance is a data point in India’s effort to cut reliance on foreign vendors for systems it has historically imported, particularly ship propulsion, where the Zorya-Mashproekt relationship has been complicated by the war in Ukraine’s effect on Ukrainian industrial capacity. Extending Arudhra to naval air stations also standardizes a DRDO/BEL-built radar across two services, simplifying logistics and sustainment compared with running multiple radar types. The 98 percent domestic-sourcing figure the ministry cited underscores how large a share of India’s current defense capital spending is now routed through domestic public and private manufacturers rather than direct imports.
What Happens Next
Each cleared program now moves toward a Request for Proposal, followed by technical evaluation, field trials and commercial negotiation before contracts are signed — a process that has historically taken India’s defense bureaucracy anywhere from several months to multiple years per program. The ministry has not published contract-signing timelines for the Arudhra naval order or the marine gas turbine development effort, and it remains to be seen which industry partner will lead the turbine’s design phase.
FAQ
What did India’s Defence Acquisition Council actually approve on September 7?
It granted Acceptance of Necessity — in-principle approval to proceed with procurement — for roughly ₹1.10 lakh crore ($12.5 billion) in equipment across the Army, Navy and Air Force. This is not a signed contract; it authorizes the ministry to begin the formal tendering process.
What is the Arudhra radar used for?
Arudhra is a 4D AESA medium-power radar used for air surveillance and tracking, including of aircraft, rockets and artillery projectiles. The new approval will see it installed at Indian Navy air stations, replacing older Air Route Surveillance Radars.
Why is India developing its own marine gas turbine?
Indian warships currently depend on imported propulsion turbines from Ukraine’s Zorya-Mashproekt and the US’s GE Aerospace. Developing a domestic marine gas turbine is meant to reduce that import dependence for a critical warship component.
Does this mean the equipment has been ordered or delivered?
No. Acceptance of Necessity is the first formal step in India’s capital acquisition process. Actual contracts, and any deliveries, follow later stages of trials and negotiation that have not yet been completed for these programs.
What share of this procurement will be built in India?
The Ministry of Defence said approximately 98 percent of the total value will be sourced from Indian industry, spanning both public-sector firms such as BEL and BHEL and private manufacturers.
Sources
- Press Information Bureau / Ministry of Defence, Government of India, “DAC clears capital acquisition proposals worth about Rs 1.10 lakh crore for the defence forces,” September 7-8, 2026 — official government announcement of the clearance and its components.
- Organiser, “Defence Ministry clears Rs 1.10L crore military procurement,” September 8, 2026 — confirms GBMPJ and DEFSAC details and indigenous-content figure.
- News on Air (Akashvani/Doordarshan), “DAC clears acquisition proposals worth over Rs 1.10 lakh cr for Forces,” September 8, 2026 — confirms full list of Army, Navy and Air Force items cleared.
- Indian Defence Research Wing (idrw.org), “Indian Navy gets going to Develop Indigenous 4 MW Marine Gas Turbine Generator After DAC Nod” and related reporting on Bharat Forge and BHEL turbine programs, 2026 — background on India’s staged marine gas turbine indigenization track.
- Defence Update / Indian Defence News reporting on Arudhra radar specifications and LRDE/BEL development role, 2026 — technical background on the Arudhra system.
