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The army will invoke the fast-track procedure under emergency procurement to buy the highly-mobile, multi-configurable, wheeled vehicles, the officials said.

The development comes amid the lingering standoff with the Chinese army along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh sector and tensions spilling over into the eastern sector too.

In a request for proposal (RFP) seeking the participation of prospective bidders, the army on January 2  said these vehicles should be helicopter transportable and be able to operate at an altitude of 16,000 feet. “Their ability to operate in snow-covered undulating terrain with long endurance makes them ideally suitable for last-mile delivery (LMD) tasks,” the RFP said.

The army plans to operate these vehicles in areas in temperatures ranging from minus 20 degrees to plus 45 degrees. An inbuilt cold engine start system is another key army requirement. Also, the engine power and operating range of these vehicles should not be less than 30 HP and 100 Km, respectively. These vehicles are expected to be deployed in Ladakh and the eastern sector too, the officials said.

The army is swiftly upgrading its capability along the border with China with a variety of weapons and systems including artillery guns, swarm drone systems that can carry out offensive missions in enemy territory, longer-range rockets, remotely piloted aerial systems and high-mobility protected vehicles, while also pursuing the development of light tanks for mountain warfare and futuristic infantry combat vehicles (FICVs).

The new logistics rough terrain vehicles should have a rollover protection system, and service life should be at least nine years or 80,000 km, the RFP said. It also details the product support, engineering support package, spares and training package for the operators. The vehicles have to be delivered within 12 months of the signing of the contract.

The army’s focus on building combat capability along the contested border with China is part of an overarching plan to steadily enhance its operational readiness to counter any challenge presented by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The border standoff between India and China erupted in May 2020. While the two sides have had partial success in disengaging rival soldiers from some friction areas on LAC in Ladakh, talks are still on to end the deadlock that has derailed the bilateral relationship. Disengagement of soldiers from all friction points is essential before de-escalation of the conflict can take place, and, finally, de-induction of troops and weapons.

Corps commanders of the two armies held talks on the Chinese side of the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on December 20, just 11 days after several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in a clash along LAC at Yangtse, located near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. However, there was no indication of forward movement in addressing the border row in the Ladakh sector during the 17th round of military talks.

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Sources in the defence and security establishment said a Request for Proposal (RFP) is set to be placed in the coming months seeking new 4×4 vehicles with soft-top that will replace the over 35,000 Gypsy cars in service in a phased manner.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, last week cleared Army’s proposal to acquire Light Vehicles GS 4X4. The Army has received clearance for purchase of 4,964 such vehicles and more would be bought in phases, sources said.

The DAC also cleared the tweaking of minimum kerb weight of the vehicle from 500 kg to 800 kg, the sources said.

“These vehicles will replace the Gypsy. An RFP will be issued in the next few months and then a trial would take place to see which vehicle suits the most,” a source said.

The source added that the Army is looking at a soft-top 4×4 that can be used in plains, deserts and rugged terrain like the mountains. A soft-top allows the soldiers to place rifles, recoilless guns to be mounted besides allowing easy movement of Quick Reaction Teams.

Asked about the possible replacements, sources said it will be an open tender and companies could very well present a brand new vehicle developed based on existing platforms. It is possible that the contract could be split between the lowest and the second-lowest bidder if both vehicles clear the trials.

The Gypsy weighs about 985 kg and is considered as the most dependable vehicle with easy maintenance. While Maruti Suzuki had stopped manufacturing the Gypsy since it no longer met the safety and emission norms, the Army had in 2018 got a special permission to order more of the same.

“The time has now come to replace the Gyspy with more modern and sturdy vehicles,” a second source said.

Also read: India biggest importer of arms in 2017-2021, but atmanirbharta push sees volume fall by 21%

Sources said that the hard-top Tata Safari Storme ordered by the Army in 2017 will continue to be in service. While it was speculated at the time that the Safaris would replace the Gypsy, sources said this was never the case as the Safari belongs to a different category.

The Safari was much bigger and heavier (around 1,800 kg) than the Gypsy and hence can’t be expected to perform like the Gypsy in specific terrains, they said.

The Safari is more used by senior officers of the local formations for movement rather than for specific operation-related roles.

While both Safari and Mahindra Scorpio had cleared nearly 15 months of trials, Tata emerged as the lowest bidder and won the contract for 3,192 units.

The Army also purchased light strike vehicles from Force Motors for its specialised units – Parachute and Para SF units in 2018. The need for these kind of specialised vehicles was actually envisioned in 2002 as part of a study conducted by the Army for modernisation of Special Forces.

Last year, the Army had also ordered 27 M4 armoured vehicles from Pune-based Bharat Forge of the Kalyani group, which has a tie-up with the South African firm Paramount Group.

Later, the Army also signed a contract with Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd for supply of 1,300 light specialist vehicles at a cost of Rs 1,056 crore. These armoured light specialist vehicles has carriage for medium machine guns, automatic grenade launchers as well as anti-tank guided missiles.

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The newest delay in Mission-75(India) (P-75(I)) is because of the stringent deadline put forth within the request for proposal (RPF) issued by the Ministry of Defence in July 2021. The federal government had shortlisted 5 overseas submarine makers who had been to associate with both one of many two Indian submarine makers to supply the vessels domestically.

The federal government needed to push again the bid submission date from November 2021 to June 2022 after nearly all of overseas taking part firms discovered it troublesome to satisfy the primary deadline, a prime official of India’s largest submarine builder stated.

Discipline analysis trials of the submarines had been anticipated to start in mid-April 2022 if the bids are available November itself. Additional delay is anticipated to occur as the federal government is but to situation approvals to taking part overseas firms.

Vice Admiral Narayan Prasad, Chairman and Managing Director, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders stated, “Now the revised schedule for bid submission is on the finish of June 2022. And while everyone seems to be attempting their stage finest, the federal government approvals for the respective international locations have nonetheless not been absolutely processed and my assumption could be these are nonetheless vulnerable to some extra delays by a few months.”

Shortlisted OEMs

Naval Group, France, TKMS, Germany, JSC ROE, Russia, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, South Korea and Navantia, Spain had been the shortlisted overseas unique tools producers (OEM). These had to decide on between Mazagon Dock Shipbuilder and Larsen and Toubro. The order for all of the six submarines will go to the bottom bidder (L1) and won’t be break up between the 2 Indian firms.

If the bid submission takes place in June, it can take one other two years for the federal government to contemplate it earlier than orders are positioned by the tip of 2024.

“The RFP was issued in July 2021 and the timelines given for bid submission was mid November 21. RFP had very, very stringent timelines. Trying on the response from nearly all of these overseas OEMs they didn’t discover it simple going based mostly on the timeline and the complexity of the whole program. So, they needed to revise these timelines a number of instances,” Prasad added.

“Who’s going to be our collaborator that has not been fructified, however actually there’s a sound potential with each DSME Korea and TKMS Germany, they’re the one collaborators compliant when it comes to timelines as per RFP. They’re but to provide you with their bid submission and we’re ready for that,” Prasad added.

INS Vagsheer

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has the capability to concurrently assemble 11 submarines at its Mumbai facility. The corporate is presently constructing INS Vagsheer, which is the sixth and the final of the Kalavari-class Scorpene submarines beneath Mission 75 (P75).

Four submarines of this class – INS Kalavari, INS Karanj, INS Khanderi, INS Vela – have been commissioned into the Indian Navy whereas a fifth, INS Vagir, started its sea trials earlier this month.

“Four submarines have already been delivered and the trials of the fifth submarine is occurring. By the tip of this 12 months the fifth submarine will even be delivered. As regards to the sixth submarine, we’re planning its launch in March or April and this vessel could be deliberate for commissioning someplace in the long run of 2023,” Prasad added.

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