Context: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the purchase of 106 basic trainer aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force.

HAL has developed the Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40), a prototype of the Basic Trainer Aircraft for which the certification process is underway.

Once HAL gets the certification, the government will buy 70 trainer aircraft, and the remaining 36 planes will be procured once the HTT-40 fleet of the IAF becomes operational.

Defence Acquisition Council (DAC):

• It works under the Defence Minister and was constituted for overall guidance of the defence procurement planning process.
• The objective of the Defence Acquisition Council is to ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the Armed Forces.
• The functions of the DAC include:
  • in-principle approval of 15 Year Long-Term Integrated Perspective Plan for Defence Forces;
  • accord of Acceptance of Necessity to acquisition proposals;
  • categorization of the acquisition proposals relating to 'Buy', 'Buy & Make' and 'Make';
  • issues relating to Single vendor clearance;
  • decision regarding 'offset' provisions in respect of acquisition proposals above Rs. 300 crores;
  • decisions regarding Transfer of Technology under 'Buy & Make' category of acquisition proposals; and
  • Field Trial evaluation.

Reference:

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/dac-nod-to-purchase-of-106-basic-trainer-aircraft-from-hal-6550854/

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