Future armoured vehicles must be capable of operating on both northern and western borders: General Bipin Rawat

New Delhi, November 16: Future armoured vehicles should have the capability to operate on both northern and western borders. This was said by the Army Chief General Bipin Rawat while addressing a seminar named ‘Future Armoured Vehicles India 2017’ on Wednesday.

 

Speaking on the occasion, General Rawat said that the Indian Army was looking at modernizing its mechanized forces, adding that there can be no mistake in deciding what capabilities are required in these Future Ready Combat Vehicles. He said, "Whatever be the future armoured vehicle we are looking at, we must have the capability to operate on the western border and the northern border. Whatever equipment we are going to introduce must be capable of interoperability on both fronts."

The Army Chief further emphasized on the canal system and said that with the development of canal systems on the western front, the desert areas have become greener and the population close to the border has also grown, leaving lesser space for operating the tanks and also bringing in a requirement for building bridges.

General Rawat also noted that there is a need to reduce the weight of machines for better flexibility and to ensure it can operate in a complex terrain as well as be integrated with other systems. General Rawat further said that India is looking at modernizing its mechanized forces and the new weapon system cannot be seen as a tank alone.

"The future combat vehicle will really be a system of systems. This is the time we can make no mistakes. We must decide what we want, what are the capabilities. It must have the capability to operate by day and night. They must be integrated into systems within the machines available to us," he said. "It is a very complex system we are looking at and we cannot make any mistakes," the Army Chief concluded.

Importantly, the statement on Army Chief General Bipin Rawat came days after the Indian Army issued a Request For Information (RFI) for over 1,700 Future Ready Combat Vehicles (FRCVs) and also for the development and manufacturing of Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV) under the Strategic Partnership model.