On 26 October 2026, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals valued at approximately Rs. 2.12 tn for the Indian Armed Forces. About 82 per cent of the proposed procurement value is earmarked for sourcing from Indian industry. AoN is an in-principle clearance and does not represent a signed contract or confirmation that equipment has been delivered.

The DAC is the Ministry of Defence’s highest decision-making body for capital acquisitions. Its approval allows proposals to move to subsequent stages of the defence procurement process, while contract awards and deliveries require further action. The package covers platforms, weapons and surveillance systems for the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.

Army approvals include High Mobility Vehicles, Self-Propelled Tracked Gun Systems, Gun Shot Response Systems, Very Short-Range Air Defence Systems, counter-unmanned aerial systems, surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles and long-range kamikaze drones. The Gun Shot Response System is designed to detect and locate hostile gunfire, while the air-defence and counter-drone systems are intended to address aerial threats.

The Indian Navy received AoN for Active Offboard Decoy Systems, which create false targets to counter anti-ship missile threats, along with other major naval platforms. Air Force proposals include Special Utility Helicopters, air-defence systems, weapons and Mobile X-Band Doppler Weather Radar Systems for localised weather surveillance.

The package also includes nearly 200 Light Multi-Role Helicopters for the Army and Air Force, with an estimated proposal value of Rs. 200 bn. The helicopters will support reconnaissance, surveillance, combat, search and rescue, and humanitarian assistance missions. Production is mandated in India, and the aircraft are intended to partly replace ageing Cheetah and Chetak fleets. The domestic sourcing requirement supports the Aatmanirbhar Bharat objective and covers land, maritime and air capabilities across the three services.