Indian Army acquires essential CBRN defense gear.

On 25 February 2025, the Indian Army signed a contract with M/s L&T Ltd for the procurement of 223 Automatic Chemical Agent Detection and Alarm (ACADA) systems at a cost of Rs 80.43 Cr, falling under the Buy Indian (IDDM) category. This will greatly enhance the GoI’s Atamnirbharta initiative as over 80% of the equipment’s components and sub-systems will be sourced domestically.

ACADA has been created and developed by DRDO’s Defence Research and Development Establishment in Gwalior, representing an important milestone in the country’s indigenisation efforts within the specialized CBRN sector.

The ACADA system detects chemical warfare agents (CWA) and assigned toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) by collecting air samples from the surroundings. It operates based on the Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) principle and features two highly sensitive IMS cells for ongoing detection and simultaneous tracking of dangerous/toxic substances. The implementation of ACADA in the field units will significantly improve the Indian Army’s defensive CBRN ability for operations and peacetime, particularly in responding to disaster relief scenarios connected to industrial incidents.