New Delhi, July 2: The Union Defence Ministry on Thursday approved the proposal to acquire 33 new fighter aircraft from Russia including 12 Su-30MKIs and 21 MiG-29s along with upgradation of 59 existing MiG-29s. The Union Ministry informed that the total cost to acquire these latest fighter jets will be Rs 18,148 crores.

Informing about the latest development, Defence Ministry official said, as quoted by new agency ANI, "Defence Ministry approves proposal to acquire 33 new fighter aircraft from Russia including 12 Su-30MKIs and 21 MiG-29s along with upgradation of 59 existing MiG-29s. The total cost of these projects would be Rs 18,148 crores." Russia Assured Ongoing Defence Contracts Will Be Executed Soon, Says Rajnath Singh.

Here's what Defence Ministry official said:

Apart from this, Defence Ministry official said that the Union government cleared the acquisition of 248 Astra Beyond Visual Range air time air missiles for the Indian Air Force and the Navy. Adding more, the official said, "Design and development of a new 1,000 kilometre strike range Land Attack Cruise Missile by DRDO has also been cleared."

The Official stated that Defence Acquisition Council has even cleared proposals worth Rs 38,900 Crore of which acquisitions worth Rs 31,130 Crore would be from Indian industry. Among the projects cleared include ammunition for Pinaka rocket launchers, BMP combat vehicle upgrades and software defined radios for Army.

Earlier in June, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Yury Ivanovich Borisov in Moscow and the Russian government assured him that ongoing defence contracts will not just be be maintained but will be executed soon.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2020 04:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).