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It was way back in October 2009 that the defence acquisitions council had cleared the acquisition of 1,86,138 such bullet-poof jackets. (TOI photo: Sanjay Hadkar)
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NEW DELHI: Something as basic as proper bullet-proof jackets remains a distant dream for Indian soldiers. Quality concerns may further delay acquisition of bulletproof jackets for soldiers
The bigger case for 1.86 lakh jackets is still at the trial evaluation stage, with six vendors locked in competition. Each jacket's estimated cost was put at around Rs 50,000 when the project was approved, making it a total of around Rs 930 crore. All these jackets were to be inducted by 2012, with another 1.67 lakh jackets to be ordered in the second round.
But revision of technical parameters and re-floating of tenders as well as convoluted defence procurement procedures and politico-bureaucratic apathy have put paid to those plans. Several parliamentary committees have taken an extremely dim view of this "critical shortage" of bullet-proof jackets, slamming the government for "playing with the lives" of soldiers, as reported by TOI earlier.
READ ALSO: Hunt for Army assault rifle may be called off
The modular jackets are meant to provide "graded levels of protection" depending on the mission to be undertaken. The jacket would weigh less than 4 kg — with a trauma pad with all-around soft armour plate including front, sides, back, collar and neck — for low-risk/threat missions.
The jacket would weight 11.5 kg, with hard armour plates for front, rear, sides, upper arms, groin and throat, in turn, for high-risk missions. "The hard armour plates, in conjunction with the soft ones, are meant to withstand six rounds of 7.62mm x 39mm mild steel core ammunition fired from an AK-47 from 10 metres," said the Army.
READ ALSO: Deals stuck, Army not fighting fit
Incidentally, as reported by TOI earlier, the long-pending quest to acquire new-generation assault rifles for infantry soldiers has also hit a dead-end. The 2011 tender for the new assault rifles with inter-changeable barrels is now likely to be scrapped.
Army still to get proper bullet-proof jackets a decade after demand - The Times of India
