Indian defence sector is bolder than before and with every passing day it is arming itself to combat any kind of situation whereby providing stability to the country.
The Indian Army is planning to procure approximate quantity 800 Light Armoured Multipurpose Vehicle (LAMV) for Mechanised Infantry and Armoured Corps. The LAMV is planned to be procured in sync with ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative.
The Request for Information generated by the Defence Ministry stated the LAMV will be employed by Reconnaissance (Recce) & Surveillance Platoons of Mechanised Infantry and Recce Troops of Armoured Corps for Recce & Surveillance tasks.
Hence, the proposed LAMV must possess adequate mobility and provide protection for troops on board.
In addition, it should be able to carry the battle loads to include weapons, ammunition, surveillance and communication equipment required to carry out mandated operational tasks.
The LAMV should be modular in design, thereby offering the scope for future upgrades through simple modifications and to facilitate subsequent development.
The LAMV will be deployed for on road and cross-country movement in the plain and desert terrain along the Western borders.
These advanced multipurpose vehicles will also be employed in the high-altitude regions, up to 5,000 metres altitude, mountainous terrain including snow bound areas as occurring along Northern borders, including eastern Ladakh and North Sikkim.
On the operational requirements, the Indian Army stated that it intends to carry out silent recce and continuous surveillance of intended area of operations with protected mobility in the battle field and provide early warning and intelligence of hostile elements.
It will used for carriage of weapons, ammunition, surveillance and communication equipment along with recce and marking stores apart from integrating with dynamic resources like drones and loiter munitions.
On the other hand, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) carried out successful trail of futuristic unmanned aircraft.
According to reports, in a major leap in indigenous flying technology, the DRDO carried out the successful maiden flight of the ‘Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator’ from the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
Operating in a fully autonomous mode, the aircraft showcased a perfect flight, including take-off, way point navigation and a smooth touchdown.
Congratulating DRDO on this major achievement Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: “Congratulations to @DRDO_India on successful maiden flight of the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator from Chitradurga ATR. It is a major achievement towards autonomous aircrafts which will pave the way for Aatmanirbhar Bharat in terms of critical military systems.””
Designed & developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a premier research laboratory of DRDO, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is powered by a small turbofan engine. It also consists of an airframe, undercarriage, entire flight control and avionics systems. Notably, all these components have been developed indigenously in India.
The defence acquisition council (DAC) — India’s apex procurement body — accorded its acceptance of necessity (AoN) for the capital acquisition proposals. Under India’s defence procurement rules, AoN by the council, headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is the first step towards buying military hardware.
India has imposed a phased ban on the import of 310 types of weapons and systems, including next-generation corvettes, in the past two years to boost self-reliance.