Washington has approved the sale of precision-guided munitions and anti-tank missiles totalling over $92 million to India after New Delhi made an urgent case for their acquisition in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
India is buying Javelin anti-tank missiles and Excalibur precision ammunition munitions from the US to bolster the armed forces and makeup up for ammunition expended in the exchange with Pakistan.
The Defence Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress about the sales.
The Indian government has requested to buy 100 FGM-148 Javelin rounds, one Javelin FGM-148 missile, fly-to-buy and 25 Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units (LwCLU) or Javelin Block 1 Command Launch Units (CLU), it said and listed a range of non-MDE items including missile simulation rounds, battery coolant unit, interactive electronic technical manual, and Javelin operator manuals apart from refurbishment services and other related elements of logistics and programme support. The estimated total cost is $45.7 million.
The emergency procurement will see India get 216 of the M982Al Excalibur tactical projectiles. What this means is that the contract is signed within weeks of getting cleared and the equipment will be delivered within a year. This contract is valued at $47.1 million.
The principal contractors for the Javelin Missile System will be RTX Corporation/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture (JJV) of Orlando, Florida and Tucson, Arizona, the statement added.
What This Means For Defence
The proposed sale is expected to improve India’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing precision capability equipment, which will increase first strike accuracy in its brigades.
"India will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces,," the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) noted.
It is expected to improve anti-aromour capability for India and offer greater survivability for soldiers as the weapon can be used from enclosed spaces. In addition, the DSCA expects this deal to increase India's 'first strike accuracy'.
The deal will also help strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship.
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