Indian Army Armored Vehicles

[Kunal Biswas]

No Armour upgrade, BMP-2 lack Armour at all sides except front..

Its a cheese when against 12.7mm / 14.7mm HMG from side and back, An RPG from any side is a death sentence and a 81 mortar from above..

We should instead restart abhay program with RCWS over it than wasting 5,000 crore on an outdated piece of equipment..

thermal imaging integration, armament upgrade and engine upgrade,

 

[sayareakd]

No Armour upgrade, BMP-2 lack Armour at all sides except front..

Its a cheese when against 12.7mm / 14.7mm HMG from side and back, An RPG from any side is a death sentence and a 81 mortar from above..

We should instead restart abhay program with RCWS over it than wasting 5,000 crore on an outdated piece of equipment..

sir may be we should put our Defence planners and Generals who makes the shots in one of these and then use HMG, RPG and Mortar on it, that way they will understand fast, ofcourse if they survive it, if they dont survive we can get other planners and repeat the process.

 

[JBH22]

No Armour upgrade, BMP-2 lack Armour at all sides except front..

Its a cheese when against 12.7mm / 14.7mm HMG from side and back, An RPG from any side is a death sentence and a 81 mortar from above..

We should instead restart abhay program with RCWS over it than wasting 5,000 crore on an outdated piece of equipment..

CV-90 weights 20-35 Tonnes pretty heavy for Indian conditions.

Abhay is basically a souped version of the swedish CV-90 perhaps a joint venture with them can help make the ABHAY program a reality.

If we are going to continue with BMP-2 atleast make it to the BMP-2D version it will no longer be amphibious but atleast will give more protection the Russians modifications in Afghanistan.

Note that BMP-2 modernisation capabilities are pretty exhausted and subsequently investing in it is pure waste of money.same goes for the T-72.
Time to get rid of these vehicles.

 

[shuvo@y2k10]

I don't understand why the army want's to modernize the bmp fleet instead of fast tracking the ficv programme?no amount of armour upgrade can make an obsolete piece of shit like bmp battle worthy in the desert of rajasthan where paki infantry will fire rpg's and chinese made atgms.it is a death trap just like our army's other prized possesions like t-72,t-90 mbts.But since the russian side has been constantly paying bribes to our disgraceful generals in the armoured corps the army is very likely to order another batch of t90 shitcans and end the arjun programme at the earliest.I would also not be suprised if army decides to cancel the ficv programme and go for licence manufacture of bmp3 which the russians are agressively marketing.

 

[sesha_maruthi27]

At last some good overhauling is being done.......

 

[Kunal Biswas]

This is the upgrade they are going for..

Army plans massive upgrade of 20,000 infantry vehicles

"The plan is to provide desired offensive capabilities to our BMP-II and BMP-IIK infantry combat vehicles, which can carry 10 soldiers, on three fronts: thermal imaging integration, armament upgrade and engine upgrade," said a source.

Back-of-the-envelope calculations show the overall cost of this entire project could touch Rs 10,000 crore. The armament upgrade alone, for instance, would be worth over Rs 5,000 crore, with the BMPs to be equipped with two twin-missile launchers on each side, 2nd-generation-plus ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles) and 30-mm automatic grenade launchers.

"It also includes TIFCS (thermal imaging fire control systems) to increase accuracy of weapon systems and panoramic sights for the commanders to be able to look in all directions," said the source.

While over 950 BMPs have already been fitted with thermal imaging modules, the rest will now be equipped with advanced "TISK" systems that integrate ATGMs, auto-canons and PKT machine guns to ensure they can be fired accurately at night. "This integration should be completed by mid-2014. The existing 285 horsepower engines of the BMPs will also be upgraded to 360 horsepower," he said.

As for the armoured corps, they have already inducted around 800 of the planned 1,657 Russian-origin T-90S tanks and 124 indigenous Arjun tanks (the Mark-II version of which is being developed with "89 improvements"), apart from upgrading its old warhorse fleet of T-72 tanks.

Army plans massive upgrade of 20,000 infantry vehicles - The Times of India

 

[Damian]

In terms of firepower, BMP-2M is a good upgrade. However some lightweight and efficent protection would be definetely usefull, if Indian Army realy wants to upgrade BMP-2's.

I can think about only two, maybe three solutions that could be used.

CERAWA-1 is a reactive armor with ceramic backplate. It provides protection against 14,5mm AP ammunition fired from a range of even 100-200m, and against shaped charge warheads penetrating 300mm of RHA.

4S24 reactive armor, that provides protection against shaped charge warheads penetrating 500mm+ RHA, and also some protection against 14,5mm AP ammunition.

Eventually "Knife/Duplet" reactive armor that would provide high levels of protection against all types of threats, although I do not know if it can be used on BMP-2, even if in theory it is possible.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

There is no place for ERA as it will pose danger of dismounting troops..

==========================

My View says >>

Heavily armed chassis, and an unmanned 30mm & ATGM armed turret for BMP-2 upgrade..

 

[JBH22]

@Kunal at the price of these upgrades well might be better to go for new APC.

This smell fouls like the Mirage 2000 upgrades

 

[Damian]

There is no place for ERA as it will pose danger of dismounting troops..

ERA will pose not bigger danger than RPG exploding on naked armor, in both cases there will be a lot of fragments flying everywhere. There is of course option to install some sort of NERA, but such kit would probably be heavier and will not allow amphibious movement.

Although I agree that new IFV should be purchased or designed.

 

[Somreet Bhattacharya]

In the first photograph that Kunal Sir has uploaded..there seems to be a considerable amount of side protection above the tracks...isn't it??

 

[Damian]

Nah, it is just simple armor screen, not very thick either, most probably optimized only to protect against 12,7mm and 14,5mm AP ammunition.

 

[methos]

Army plans massive upgrade of 20,000 infantry vehicles

"The plan is to provide desired offensive capabilities to our BMP-II and BMP-IIK infantry combat vehicles, which can carry 10 soldiers, on three fronts: thermal imaging integration, armament upgrade and engine upgrade," said a source.

Back-of-the-envelope calculations show the overall cost of this entire project could touch Rs 10,000 crore. The armament upgrade alone, for instance, would be worth over Rs 5,000 crore, with the BMPs to be equipped with two twin-missile launchers on each side, 2nd-generation-plus ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles) and 30-mm automatic grenade launchers.

"It also includes TIFCS (thermal imaging fire control systems) to increase accuracy of weapon systems and panoramic sights for the commanders to be able to look in all directions," said the source.

While over 950 BMPs have already been fitted with thermal imaging modules, the rest will now be equipped with advanced "TISK" systems that integrate ATGMs, auto-canons and PKT machine guns to ensure they can be fired accurately at night. "This integration should be completed by mid-2014. The existing 285 horsepower engines of the BMPs will also be upgraded to 360 horsepower," he said.

As for the armoured corps, they have already inducted around 800 of the planned 1,657 Russian-origin T-90S tanks and 124 indigenous Arjun tanks (the Mark-II version of which is being developed with "89 improvements"), apart from upgrading its old warhorse fleet of T-72 tanks.

Army plans massive upgrade of 20,000 infantry vehicles - The Times of India

Sounds pretty much like the BMP-2M:

-Two twin launchers for ATGM (Kornet, which is a "2nd-generation-plus ATGM")
-Thermal imagers
-30 mm grenade launcher
-Turbo-charged engine

 

[Kunal Biswas]

This upgrade was finalized since 2003, If FICV competition was cancelled for this, Then it is just an attempt to discourage private player for doing anything for Nation..

====================================

KBP have developed a BMP-2 ICV modernization package which is now in the prototype phase. The upgrade replaces the main assemblies of the fire control system and adds the Kornet-E ATMS plus a 30 mm automatic grenade launcher with a range of 1700 m. The commander's BPK-2-42 standard sight has been replaced with a combined day/night sight. The 30 mm 2A42 automatic gun has been retained.

http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_424.shtml

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Indian Army BMP-2 being put through electro-magnetic compatibility test at the EMC Tech Centre, Ahmednagar, December 2010

Ministry of Defence,--- Government of India--- --------

 

[sunilgroup]

We understand that the Indian Army is planning to upgrade most of its vehicle for bullet proof capabilities i.e. changing the armour from steel to light weight composite materials which include ceramics. Any idea or information on the same ??

 

[Kunal Biswas]

It is possible that Vehicles in Counter Insurgency area need so, though there is no information on public domain..

 

[Damian]

We understand that the Indian Army is planning to upgrade most of its vehicle for bullet proof capabilities i.e. changing the armour from steel to light weight composite materials which include ceramics. Any idea or information on the same ??

What is wrong with the steel? When it comes to protection against small arms fire, steel would be probably one of the most efficent and reliable protection solutions.

Besides this, there is not much improvement potential for BMP-2 in this regard. If you want IFV with composite armor, then you need to design completely new vehicle, besides this who said that such composite armor will be lightweight? Such IFV will probably not be amphibious anymore, while of course offering significantly greater protection.

 

[WMD]

@Kunal Biswas

Sir, how many T-72M1 or Combat Improved Ajeya are in the service of IA?

We have been hearing for a long time abt the upgrade of IA T-72 tanks.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

It is unknown about specific number of T-72M1 operating in IA, But what is known that 70% of T-72M1 fleet is upgraded by DRDO..

Details are here : http://drdo.gov.in/drdo/pub/techfocus/2011/tf_june2011.pdf

@Kunal Biswas

Sir, how many T-72M1 or Combat Improved Ajeya are in the service of IA?

We have been hearing for a long time abt the upgrade of IA T-72 tanks.