NEW DELHI — The Indian army has approved an order to buy 100 artillery guns from a state-owned defense manufacturer, the first such procurement of howitzers in almost two decades. “The army has placed orders with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for procuring 100 155-mm, 52-caliber howitzers and this will be developed on the basis of transfer of technology,” says M.M. Pallam Raju, junior minister for defense.

NEW DELHI — India will soon acquire a Hercules WC-130J aircraft and an unmanned aerial vehicle to ensure improved monitoring of cyclones, a senior government official says.

NEW DELHI — India will induct its homegrown Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM) into the Indian air force (IAF) on March 3. “The Akash weapon system [AWS] was indigenously developed by [the] Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as part of the integrated guided missile development program and is an all-weather, medium-range, surface-to-air missile system,” a defense ministry official says. “It provides multidirectional and multitarget area defense.”