New Delhi: Finally rolling out a decade-long plan, the Ministry of Defence has granted the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the Army’s project to build the Future Ready Combat Vehicles (FRCVs) that will become India’s main battle tank.
The project is being processed through the Make-I procedure, which involves government funding of up to 70 percent of the project with the rest being put in by the selected firm or firms.
Sources in the defence establishment said that following the AoN, the Army will now issue an Expression of Interest (EoI) detailing the exact specification and technology it wants. This will be responded to by the interested firms.
Based on the responses, a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued.
Sources said that the Army will shortlist two developing agencies, adding that both these firms will likely be private sector companies.
It is after this that a project sanction order will be extended.
As per the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP), the total process takes up to 98 weeks (or about 2 years). However, as the AoN is accorded, going through the process will likely take about 6-8 months.
According to the plan, the selected companies will first develop prototypes which will undergo trials and then a final order will be placed. This order could very well be split between the two companies.
The Army expects the first prototype in the next 3-4 years and start inductions by 2030.
As reported by ThePrint earlier, the Army is looking to procure 1,700 tanks in three phases. The Army expects each phase to deliver nearly 550-600 tanks. This would however depend on the production rate.
These tanks will eventually replace the T-72 tanks.
The FRCVs are meant to have “superior mobility, all terrain ability, multilayered protections, precision, and lethal fires over and real-time situational awareness”, according to a PIB release.
The Indian Army first floated a Request for Information (RFI) in 2015.
It was initially meant to be under the Strategic Partnership Model (SPM). However, given the issues facing the SPM, the Army started pursuing it under the Make-I category.
One of the requirements of the RFI was that the tank should have the ability to incorporate niche technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and be able to operate in a network centric and electronic warfare environment.
The FRCV is aimed to be in-service for the next 35-45 years. According to a project brief, the Army’s requirement, hence, is that it is “designed to deliver the highest lethality survivability and agility on the battlefield combined with a fully digitised data backbone architecture to enable next-generation operational capabilities and automation.”
The FRCV would be designed to carry a crew of four troops and will not weigh more than 60 tonnes. The Army requires it to be transportable by in-service aircraft, ships, rail and road infrastructure.
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