Date : 2017-11-10 12:38:17

Indian Army may soon get new-generation tanks .

NEW DELHI: Indian Army will soon get new generation, state-of-the-art tanks called the Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV), numbering over 1700, to replace the ageing Soviet-era T-72 tanks. 

The Defence Ministry has issued a global request for information (RFI) on Wednesday for development and manufacturing of FRCV under the Strategic Partnership model in collaboration with an Indian partner. Under the joint development plan, the design will be provided by the Foreign Original Equipment Manufactured to the selected Indian strategic 

FRCV, which is planned to be used in border areas close to Pakistan and China, will not only form the basic platform of the main battle tank, but also for a family of variants such as lighter tanks, taking the total number of vehicles to be manufactured under this project to over 2,000. 

In addition, such a push indicates India,s moving away from indigenous tank projects like Arjun Tanks and reduction in dependence on Russian-origin military vehicles. 

Due to different "operational scenarios" and for maintaining combat edge over an adversary, the Army needs to induct latest medium-weight class tanks to replace the vintage T-72 tank fleet. The army is seeking induction of the FRCVs by 2025-27. Accordingly, the RFI was issued to procure 1,770 FRCVs 
in a phased manne 

India, which wants to acquire such technologies including design know-how, is in the process of developing an industrial ecosystem for such vehicles. The OEM will also have to take into account 10 years performance based logistics and life cycle support for about 50 years. 

This project is different from a similar one called the Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) programme, which is for supplying over 2000 vehicles to replace the army,s existing Infantry Combat Vehicles, the BMP-IIs. Furthermore, experts explained that the new FRCV project indicates moving beyond the indigenous programs, such as the DRDO,s Future Main Battle Tank and the Arjun Mark-2 program.