Army lays thrust on modernisation

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI): The army's air defence wing has been given the largest share of funds for capital acquisition in the current financial year. The Army has allocated 21 per cent of the Rs 18,828 crore funds for capital acquisition for the Army Air Defence, 17 percent for artillery and 15 percent for infantry. According to a presentation made by Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen S K Singh, 14 percent of the funds has been ear marked for the mechanised force. In the 22-page presentation, the Army Vice Chief told the Committee that it will require additional funds for its modernisation plans and the demand for same would be projected as per requirement, sources said.         The Army Chief had highlighted deficiences and shortcomings in the country's armoury in his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on March 12. In the letter, which was leaked, the Army Chief had stated that 97 per cent of the Air Defence System was obsolete and the armoured regiments were short of ammunition. The letter had also pointed out the shortage of equipment faced by Special Forces of the Army. The artillery modernisation programme has suffered a lot in the last over two decades as not a single piece of howitzer has been inducted in the last 25 years after the Bofors gun deal scam. In the detailed presentation, the Army Vice Chief mentioned that the procurements were needed because of "threat perspectives", the sources said. Among the threat perspectives, he listed China's military modernisation and its continued support to Pakistan, including infrastructure development in Northern Areas under Pakistani control. Describing Pakistan as the "epicentre of terror", the presentation said it was continuing its support to the proxy war against India and was keeping the terrorist infrastructure on its soil intact.