Indian program of the perspective tank FRCV
24 months after the Indian Army issued an RFI request for the Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV) project, it had to reconsider its excessively high requirements and send a second request for a less ambitious, but to the more accessible family of heavy armored vehicles, says Tom Waldwin, an expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), in his article "India's not-quite-ready Future Ready Combat Vehicle."
The first Request for Information (RFI) of June 2015 was replaced by a document issued in 2017, which amended the program for the alleged replacement of about 2,000 Indian Army T-72M1 tanks by 1,770 units of FRCV advanced technology. So, of the 11 FRCV modifications proposed in 2015, there are five. In particular, the wheeled cannon armored vehicle ("Wheeled version") disappeared from the list, while ambitions for the light tank were preserved ("Light Tank"). The 2017 document also identifies a basic self-propelled platform for other weapons ("Self-propelled base platform for other arms").
It is unclear what the Indian army means by "light tank". The creation of a more compact and light version of the machine chosen to meet the requirements of the main tank, even if this would be achievable, would complicate the development process and inevitably increase costs. It is more likely that in this role a machine developed within the framework of a separate program Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) aimed at replacing Indian BMP-2 will be used.
In accordance with the updated RFI, the combat weight of the basic platform of the main tank (Baseline MBT Platform) should be from 42.5 to 58 tons - the same range as that of the armed tank T-72M1. This "most important" characteristic is due to the country's geography and infrastructure. Despite the fact that India is open to proposals for tanks with a crew of 4 people and a 120-mm cannon, many years of experience with the use of the T-72M1 and T-90S tanks with three crew members and 125mm guns can lead the country to choose a more customary option .
The Indian army is looking for a foreign company to supply the "proven Armored Fighting Vehicle", and then plans to cooperate with a local Indian enterprise that will manufacture. The announced requirements seem to limit the choice to offers from South Korea, Japan and Russia. However, all of them will create certain difficulties.
The South Korean tank K2 was ordered by the South Korean armed forces in two batches of 100 units each, but has not yet been exported. The first batch, equipped with German engines, was commissioned in 2014. The second batch with the engines of the Korean company Doosan DST, stopped at the testing stage due to problems in the power plant. The Japanese tank of type 10 was also not exported. To date, a small amount of these type 10 tanks with an average cost of $ 11 million per unit was ordered by the Self-Defense Forces of Japan.
T-90MS is the most modern modification of the Russian T-90 tank. Since the mid-2000s, India has been licensed to produce its earlier version of the T-90S, more than 1,000 units are in service with the country. However, Russian-Indian cooperation in this direction was not simple, errors on both sides led to delays and increased costs. If India decided to continue the purchase of T-90 tanks, it would be logical to continue production at the state-owned Heavy Vehicles Factory in Avadi.
The choice of T-90MS within the framework of the FRCV program would mean that the Indian army opts for a homogeneous T-90 park, instead of a mixed version. At the end of 2016, the Defense Acquisition Council of India (DAC) approved the purchase of another 464 T-90 tanks, which were designated in the Indian press as T-90MS. If this is true information, one might assume that the Indian Army is considering this project apart from the FRCV program, which makes the T-90MS victory unlikely.
Although the T-14 "Armata" can not be called "proven", since he still has to enter the arsenal of the Russian Army, the demands made by the Indian side make him a serious candidate. Despite the fact that the introduction of a partner into the Armata program will become a complicating factor for Moscow, the division of production costs and the maintenance of the order are likely to be welcomed.
The FRCV program is important not only in terms of the replacement of T-72 tanks, but also in connection with the Indian Army's refusal from the corresponding project of the Organization for Defense Research and Development (DRDO). The Indian project of the main tank Arjun Mk I, whose history dates back to the 1970s, was faced with many years of delays and excess costs, until in 2009, after the construction of 122 out of 124 custom-made tanks, production was not curtailed. Since then, DRDO has been working on its improved version of Arjun Mk II. Despite the fact that the DAC approved the purchase of 118 Arjun Mk II tanks in 2014, as of the end of 2017 the contract has not yet been signed. Part of this is due to the resistance of the Indian army due to the heavy weight of the tank, which is reportedly 68.6 tons. In fact, the army and DRDO are competing, trying to convince politicians of the country,
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