At a recent Army Technology Seminar in New Delhi, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat reiterated that India will win future wars with Indian equipment, and gave an open call for an embrace of the ‘Make in India’ agenda.

“The military can no longer operate in a closed system. Our doors are open to see how soldiers on the ground can use technology to get an advantage over the adversary,” he said, indicating an unprecedented glasnost in partnering Industry to equip the Army.

Among the slew of measures to give momentum to ‘Make in India’, Make-II stands out as an innovative procedure to foster indigenous design, development and manufacture. It involves the Indian private sector Industry, including MSMEs and Start-ups, developing equipment prototypes with home grown solutions at their own cost, with intimate hand-holding by the Army Design Bureau to see the design and development activity through.

A total of 32 Make projects for the Army are in process. SP’s Land Forces profiles the new projects for 2019, which range from beefing up mountain warfare capability to developing precision artillery firepower and secure communications equipment.

ARTILLERY

Multi-Role Precision Kill System (MRPKS)

The MRPKS is proposed to be a vertically launched medium-range rocket system for mountain warfare. Vertical launch will give the system a 360 degree employment capability to overcome the crest clearance problem in the hills while targeting an enemy on the other side of the slope.

The void in rocket capability in the mountains with near pinpoint accuracy at medium ranges is intended to be addressed with the development of the MRPKS. The ammunition planned for this weapon system is a high-precision, medium-range fire-and-forget rocket with an on-board guidance system and a passive IR terminal guidance.

Planned to be mounted on a 4x4 inservice, 2.5-tonne vehicle which can be effectively deployed in the mountains, each launcher would carry up to 12 missiles in a cassette. The launcher should be able to operate in both standalone and Battery configuration backed by long-range communications. It is envisaged as a major force multiplier for tactical operations with fast deployment, high mobility, increased employability, low weight of the launch vehicle, precision accuracy and shoot and scoot capabilities.

Terminally Guided Munitions

Smart, terminally-guided munitions for precision strike capability and greater lethality. This is intended to be the appropriate artillery ammunition of the future which will meet firepower requirements in terms of accuracy, improved kill probability, faster speed of engagement and correspondingly reduced logistics. With precision capability, guided munitions also needed to optimise the Artillery ammunition.

The Army recently imported a limited quantity of Excalibur Terminally Guided Munitions for its 155mm guns. The fast track procurement of this Raytheon munition was done through the Foreign Military Sales route with the US. In the past, the Army has also used the Russian Krasnopol ammunition, which was acquired as an emergency procurement in the context of the Kargil War in 1999. Industry has been called upon to play a lead role in developing this ammunition for import substitution. Approval in Principle (AIP) has been accorded to this as a Make-II project, and efforts are on to seek more broad-based vendor response.

120mm Extended Range (ER) Guided Mortar Ammunition

With a high angle fire capability, mortars are a highly effective weapon system in the mountains. In-service mortar ammunition has a range limitation. Therefore, there’s a pressing need for an Extended Range Guided Mortar Ammunition.

Among the slew of measures to give momentum to ‘Make in India’, Make-II stands out as an innovative procedure to foster indigenous design, development and manufacture

Through the Make-II route, the Indian Army is seeking such Extended Range Guide Mortar Ammunition which is fully compatible with the existing 120mm Artillery mortars. The Army is seeking wider industrial response to this Make-II project.

Truck Mounted Crane for ULH regiments

All future medium guns of the Indian Army will be in the 155mm/39/45/52 calibre catgery, paving the way for the requirement of common 155mm ammunition systems.

Unlike other calibre ammunition which comes in single round packages, 155mm ammunition is palletised. The weight of each shell pallet of 12 rounds is approximately 620 kg ands that of each Bi-Modular Charge System (BCMS) pallet with 125 modules is about 540 kg. This makes it necessary to have mechanical means to load and unload each pallet.

It is in fulfillment of this requirement that the development of a Truck-Mounted Ammunition Crane on Ammunition carrying Vehicles of medium regiments has been proposed as a Make-II project.

ARMY AIR DEFENCE

Mountain Fire Control Radar

The modernising Army Air Defence has specified the requirement of a Mountain Fire Control Radar System to replace vintage inventory which is facing obsolescence.

A key requirement is for the this new Mountain Fire Control System to be light weight and highly mobile with a tow vehicle.

Pre-Fragmented Programmable Proximity Fuze Ammunition, Integrated Air Defence Combat Simulator (IADCS) and Air Defence Unit Level System are the other programmes being pursued by Army Air Defence.

MECHANISED FORCES

AFV Protection and Counter-Measure System for T-90 TK

The Indian Army is seeking enhanced survivability for its T-90 Main Battle Tanks, which are the mainstay of the Armoured Corps. At the moment, the T-90 fleet is vulnerable because it lacks an Active Protection System against an enemy rocket or missile attack. It is equipped only with ERA panels, which provide limited survivability in the current battlefield scenario.

The projected need is for an Active Protection System capable of detecting and defeating an enemy attack. The enhanced protection and survivability is sought through soft kill and hard kill capabilities of the envisaged AFV Protection and Counter Measure System.

Armament Upgrade of BMP

Night enablement is at the heart of the planned upgrade of BMP-II Infantry Combat Vehicle fleet. Armament Upgrade sought includes new Fire Control System with Auto Target Tracker, Gunner Main sight and Commander Panoramic Sight.

Acquiring night fighting capability has been termed an operational imperative for the Indian Army’s Mechanised Forces. A part of the BMP-II fleet is planned to be upgraded with available niche technology. Industry has already indicated capabilities for the upgradation of the Fire Control System with the Auto Target Tracker feature.

SIGNALS

HF Software Defined Radio (SDR)

Presently, the Indian Army is equipped with separate radio sets for HF, VHF and UHF frequencies. These legacy radio sets have little or no data capability, thereby hindering enablement of network centric operations.

The Make-II programme for HF SDR will address these operational and technological voids. The HF SDR is intended to have a provision of interoperability with legacy systems, and the ability to add, remove or modify the output of systems through reconfigurable and re-deployable waveform leading to multi-mode, multi-frequency and multi-platform operations in a single hardware configuration. This is envisaged to provide flexibility for secure communications to troops during operations.

Man-pack V/UHF Software Defined Radio (SDR)

The proposed communication system for boots on the ground, this is envisaged as a backward compatible SDR which is interoperable with future systems. With a range of 15 km or greater, the system will be able to transmit voice, data, message and video in both Clear and Secure mode in Fixed Frequency and Frequency Hopping mode for transmission of Voice, Ground to Air Voice, Narrow Band Data, Wide Band Data, Narrow Band Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET) having 16 nodes and Wide Band MANET having 32 nodes. It will be usable on multiple platforms in a single hardware configuration.

A separate Mobile Integrated Network Terminal (MINT) programme is also progressing.

RASHTRIYA RIFLES

Robotic Surveillance System

With a view to reducing troop casualty and collateral damage during counter-terrorist operations in built-up areas, the Indian Army’s counter-insurgency force Rashtriya Rifles will be managing a programme for developing a Robotic Surveillance Platform which will enable troops to be forewarned about the position and strength of adversaries inside buildings and provide better situation awareness of locations where terrorists are holed up.

A Feasibility Study has established capability in the Indian private sector to develop and deliver such equipment.

CORPS OF ENGINEERS

Portable Helipad

The Corps of Engineers is seeking light weight, modular material to put together portable helipads of sizes ranging from 25m x 25m to 100m x 100m.

Present portable helipads suffer from several drawbacks, principally heavy weight and consequent implications for handling and transport to location, limitations in camouflage and manpower intensive installation.

Through private sector Industry, the Corps of Engineers is seeking to leverage the advancements in metallurgy and development of flexible and resilient alternatives to come up with better solutions for portable helipad material. The focus is on modularity and light weight.