Indian Army has signed a contract on 25 February 2025 for procurement of 223 Automatic Chemical Agent Detection and Alarm (ACADA) systems with M/s L&T Ltd at a cost of Rs 80.43 Cr, under the Buy Indian (IDDM) category. This will give a significant boost to the GoI’s Atamnirbharta drive since more than 80% of the components and sub-systems of the equipment will be sourced locally. ACADA has been designed and developed by DRDO’s Defence Research and Development Establishment, Gwalior and marks a significant milestone in the nation’s indigenisation initiative in the niche CBRN domain. The ACADA system is used to detect chemical warfare agents (CWA) and programmed toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) by sampling the air from the environment. It works on the principle of Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) and contains two highly sensitive IMS cells for continuous detection and simultaneous monitoring of harmful/ toxic substances. Induction of ACADA in the field units will substantially enhance Indian Army’s defensive CBRN capability for operations, as also for peacetime, especially for responding to disaster relief situations related to industrial accidents.
