IA is already in process of replacing them by US Strikers [may be], IA is in process of modernisation,
so at present BMP-II are best, IA still uses Soviet strategies in case of war.....
until we modern APC/IFV's BMP-II's are best, if we confirm, they are death coffins, it degrade moral of a soldier,
as you know Indian procurement is too slow, [except Israel issue]
already their is a tender going on for it........
The problem with IA procurement has to do with IA brass mentality. Firstly, they are still stuck with a Pro-soviet mindset. Soviet strategies (more about this later), soviet/ Russian weaponry + vehicles (Which is why they inducted T-90s but hesitated about Arjun MBT) and even force structure was largely based upon Soviet models. Back in the 70s and 80s such mindsets may have been OK, but in the modern day and age it only holds back the Army modernization plan.
Soviet land battle strategy was based upon the WW-2 encirclement strategy, primarily suited for the vast plains of east/ central Europe. Land forces were based upon fast moving, rugged tanks with light armor, suited for enemy-fire avoidance. MBTs (T-72 and T-90) and IFVs (BMP-1 and BMP-2) were based on this model. However, western armed forces were moving towards the idea of "surviving after being hit" and the tanks and IFVs were being designed based on this model. As a result American tanks had heavy armor on it and weighed considerably more (M60, M1 Abrams).
Shortcomings of the soviet/ Russian strategy was exposed in the 1980s in mountaineous Afghanistan where the T-72 and the T-80 were slaughtered by the Mujahideens using Manpads and RPGs. The Russian IFVs faced smilar fate too.
In the 1990s, the Russian MBTs saw action in the Chechen war. There also mountainous terrain caused the undoing of the T-80s and T-72s. Large numbers of these tanks were destroyed primarily due to inadequate armor, bad tactics and poor training.
Similarly Serbian forces took grievous losses in the hands of NATO forces due to inadequate armor of their vehicles.
For India, using Russian strategy might be OK in the deserts of Rajasthan and the plains of Punjab, although the T-90 is definitely not the best vehicle for that due to weather-control problems. But in the mountainous terrains of J&K and the northeast, neither the Russian strategy nor the T-90 will be useful.
The much-maligned yet upgraded and operational Arjun actually is a far better choice for the IA both in the deserts of Rajasthan as well as in the mountains of J&K due to it's better Armor and weather-control systems.
Similarly, the IFVs like BMP-1 and BMP-2 are not ideal for either the deserts or the mountains and should be replaced by better-armored IFVs suited to Indian conditions. Till that happens, India will be sending it's brave soldiers in harms way without adequate defense.
