AMID STANDOFF, ARMY LOOKS TO UPGRADE FLEET OF INFANTRY VEHICLES

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has sought to upgrade its infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) with night-fighting capability to fill a critical operational void in its mechanised infantry fleet at a time of heightened military tensions between Indian and China in the Ladakh sector, officials familiar with the development said on Monday.

The army on September 4 invited expression of interest (EoI) from Indian vendors for developing prototype and subsequent procurement of upgraded armament for its BMP-2/2K ICVs inducted almost 35 years ago.

“The terrain along our borders lends itself to conduct large-scale mechanised operations and the belligerence of our adversaries on the borders, necessitate that our capabilities are adequately built up to match the threat,” the EOI said. The army has deployed its ICVs along with tanks and artillery in the Ladakh sector. The army said the armament system on BMP-2/2K --- the mainstay of the mechanised infantry --- is “night blind as on date” and needs to be upgraded with modern sights to fill capability gaps.

Former army vice chief Lieutenant General AS Lamba (retd) said, “The BMP-2/2k is an excellent combat platform armed with advanced weapons. But it’s critical to equip the fleet with night-fighting capability to optimize its impact.”

The army plans to upgrade 811 ICVs with third-generation thermal imager-based gunner sight, modern thermal imagerbased commander sight, modernised fire control system and automatic target tracker. Vendors have been asked to submit their responses to the EOI in six weeks. If the multi-stage process progresses smoothly, user trials could take place in two years.