Indian Army May Ditch Stryker Armored Vehicle Deal for Domestic WhAP Amidst India-Canada Diplomatic Row

The ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Canada have cast a shadow over the Indian Army's proposed acquisition of Stryker armored vehicles, manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C).

While initial talks between India and the US suggested a potential deal for the Canadian-made vehicles, with the possibility of co-production under the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative, the escalating diplomatic row has put the brakes on the procurement process.

Sources indicate that no decision has been taken to move forward with the Stryker deal, which had been touted for use by the Indian Army in forward areas, particularly along the border with China. This hesitation stems not only from the diplomatic complexities but also from concerns raised by Indian defence companies who have invested heavily in developing similar vehicles tailored to India's specific needs.

Adding to the uncertainty, industry partners involved in India's indigenous Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP) program are urging the Ministry of Defence to reconsider the Stryker deal altogether. The WhAP, a joint initiative between DRDO and Tata Advanced Systems, offers a compelling domestic alternative.

This 8x8 amphibious vehicle, designed for diverse roles including reconnaissance, troop transport, and fire support, boasts modularity and adaptability. With variants already being developed by Tata, Mahindra, and Kalyani, the WhAP presents a cost-effective and customizable solution compared to the Stryker. Furthermore, its potential as an export-worthy platform, with interest from countries like Morocco, strengthens its position as a viable alternative.

Defence experts argue that procuring the Stryker would not only hinder India's self-reliance in defence production but also create potential complications due to geopolitical considerations. The WhAP, on the other hand, ensures greater control over design and production, aligning with India's push for strategic autonomy in defence.

The WhAP has already been tested at high altitudes and has reportedly impressed the Indian Army with its capabilities. It offers features like amphibious capability and nuclear sensors, which are absent in the Stryker. Moreover, its competitive pricing and successful deployment with Indian security forces further bolster its case.

As the diplomatic standoff with Canada continues, the Indian government faces mounting pressure to prioritize indigenous solutions like the WhAP, ensuring both strategic autonomy and support for the domestic defence industry.

 

[Sudha]

Now we will know whether this "atmanirbhar" government is just gassing about indigenisation or not.

 

[M S ChatterjiVerified member]

Stryker no more. Tell the Army to look for TATA product.

 

[Ray]

Now we will know whether this "atmanirbhar" government is just gassing about indigenisation or not.

Govt is committed and that's why whap and other indigenous products coming forward.
Almost 200 whap have ordered till now. And with bad relationship with Canada, I'm sure rest of the requirements would also filled by indigenous platform i.e either Tata's whap or Mahindra's apc.

 

[Akshat]

Stryker no more. Tell the Army to look for TATA product.

No need to tell that to our army. They have already issued a tender for ~200 WhAPs under IDDM category. Whether they are procured from Tata or Mahindra (or anyone else) remains to be seen, of course. No tender whatsoever, at least till now, has been issued for Stryker. Not even a positive comment about it from the armed forces.

 

[Vf Feb]

Is US blackmailing to buy stryker as a apart of GE 404 engine deal

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Japan and south korea are much more serious about "atmanirbhar" than we are, even then they still buy lots of american military equipment. Buying american military equipment is a way to lobby the american politicians to get them on your side. It gets you leverage on them. American military industrial complex is very very influential. Getting them on your side by buying their stuff, maybe that is our govt plan. Who knows.
This is just a theory. I dont want us to buy strykers either.

 

[Indrakumar Salam]

WHAP is amphibious while Stryker is not. That is one capability more. WHAP can be make to perform what Stryker variants can do.

 

[RG]

What is there to think, just cancel it. there is local option available, why bother ?

 

[ramdas]

Is US blackmailing to buy stryker as a apart of GE 404 engine deal

The US is not so cheap not stryker but for MRFA either F15EX or F21. That's why they are delaying the GE engines. If the government finalizes a non-US fighter aircraft. GE engines will not come for MK1A or AMCA. End of story.

 

[siddharth]

Why did they go ahead with Stryker in the first place? Was whap failing on requirements?

 

[Sridhar]

Why did they go ahead with Stryker in the first place? Was whap failing on requirements?

Neither did Indian army nor MoD has officially announced anything about STRYKER.

 

[Akshat]

WHAP is amphibious while Stryker is not. That is one capability more. WHAP can be make to perform what Stryker variants can do.

So far Army has not said anything about Stryker while a tender for WhAP was recently released. Army has spent a lot of time perfecting WhAP. My guess is that Stryker will be performed in very little numbers for either high altitude operations and/or for specialty roles.

 

[beencensured]

Japan and south korea are much more serious about "atmanirbhar" than we are, even then they still buy lots of american military equipment. Buying american military equipment is a way to lobby the american politicians to get them on your side. It gets you leverage on them. American military industrial complex is very very influential. Getting them on your side by buying their stuff, maybe that is our govt plan. Who knows.
This is just a theory. I dont want us to buy strykers either.

Biggest uneducated thinks on this forum who thinks everyone cares about gifts and bribes. The biggest way to make America a friend is strip naga and let them use you everyway they like and want. Pakistan does this best and buys no American weapons doing terrorism(genocide) selling drugs. China did so by allowing America to spy on Soviets and got MFN in return, but china never bought American weapons as it said it would destroy its own development. Further did the dirty of attacking Buddhism in Cambodia, China, and Tibet drop Buddhism from world's number one religion. But they failed when listen to America's one child policy and now face anc ever shrinking economy. America is modern equivalent as one Indian American told Ravan's golden Lanka.So do you want to convert?

But then India is in non-alignment movement of Nehru's and so neither friend nor enemy and so why would America help.

The number one way to make America on its knees begging India is increase hostilities to point that no more students nor workers can go to America. Losing half to one third of the available engineering and science pool will create an Existential crisis in America where their homos3xual boys try to prove they are better then girls by playing girl's sports as their mafia hacked theirs off.

If India does this dollar would collapse and India would be a superpower far ahead of USA in five years and in two America will collapse. So, certainly we can get some strong favors using power of diplomacy and not junk weapons that stop India's ability to secure its own borders.

 

[AK S]

No need to tell that to our army. They have already issued a tender for ~200 WhAPs under IDDM category. Whether they are procured from Tata or Mahindra (or anyone else) remains to be seen, of course. No tender whatsoever, at least till now, has been issued for Stryker. Not even a positive comment about it from the armed forces.

Let’s see how much accurate you are. I truly wish you are right about it. I won’t complain about your allegiance to French Army.

Having said that my observation is that Stryker is some kind of geopolitical or tech transfer quid pro quo, which has a life of its own. US has presented it as a codevelopment on every possible occasion.

So, not much dependency on Canadian issues at hand, and it is certainly temporary. Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre (Pardon my French) are coming to power in Canada and our ties will improve dramatically .. it should be similar what we had during the days of Harper.

 

[Neal.B]

US want to sell their strykers to India, at the same time want a diplomatic tussle between India and 5 eyes. What sort of politics is that! Has US lost its mind!

 

[Sandeep]

To everyone who reads this article the government and military didn’t say that they will buy the Stryker vehicle at all. There is also a complete ban and embargo on buying any foreign armoured vehicles and technology. The military are definitely going to buy the WHAP and there will be different variants developed with different turrets, missiles, guns, technology and machine guns etc.

 

[Sandeep]

Now we will know whether this "atmanirbhar" government is just gassing about indigenisation or not.

Nope your wrong as usual mate. The military and government haven’t said that they will buy the Stryker. They just said they will look at it and evaluate its technology and capabilities but definitely no confirmation and there won’t be as the focus is on developing the WHAP armoured vehicle.

 

[Bhishma]

Japan and south korea are much more serious about "atmanirbhar" than we are, even then they still buy lots of american military equipment. Buying american military equipment is a way to lobby the american politicians to get them on your side. It gets you leverage on them. American military industrial complex is very very influential. Getting them on your side by buying their stuff, maybe that is our govt plan. Who knows.
This is just a theory. I dont want us to buy strykers either.

Your "conventional lobby wisdom" sure works for countries like SoKo. It never works for India. Thats the bait they use with India too. For them dollars have no value. We have value for it and France/Russia have value for it. But for US, if we tell them "we will withhold the dollars if you dont do X", they will say "fk off, we will print those dollars". India is a geopolitical headache for the US. They draw us in, with the promise that US will be swayed with purchases and then they will stab us in our back.

 

[Rajeshmg]

The only way to Teach Lesson to CANADA 🇨🇦 is to Scrap the deal with Immediate effect, second Totally stop buying Fertilizers, third stop buying Pulses, four Totally ban on Students going to Canada for studies, this will contribute to around 7- 10 Billion in losses for Canada, a big loss for farmers and industries and big blow to economy.

 

[Akshat]

What is there to think, just cancel it. there is local option available, why bother ?

The local option was procured for evaluation and so far it was not procured, showing that it was not up to mark. But the new tender was released recently after the upgraded versions have been developed, which shows that army is looking to procure it.

On the other hand, at least so far, Stryker procurement is nothing but a rumor. Most likely it will be bought in small quantities for specialized roles which WhAP can’t do.

 

[Akshat]

Let’s see how much accurate you are. I truly wish you are right about it. I won’t complain about your allegiance to French Army.

Having said that my observation is that Stryker is some kind of geopolitical or tech transfer quid pro quo, which has a life of its own. US has presented it as a codevelopment on every possible occasion.

So, not much dependency on Canadian issues at hand, and it is certainly temporary. Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre (Pardon my French) are coming to power in Canada and our ties will improve dramatically .. it should be similar what we had during the days of Harper.

You don't have to see how accurate I am. The facts are in the public domain already. And you can't complain about my allegiance to French army since there is none, but I definitely can complain about your hostility to Indian Army due to your allegiance to the socialist organizations of India.

Not sure if the Conservatives are gonna come to power or not, or if things will improve under them even if they do. As I wrote yesterday, this is a coordinated effort by US to target India and get some leverage in various negotiations which are going on. It's no coincidence that all of Trudeau's allegations come right before similar US allegations or some major event in the Pannun case. It is also not by chance that US is supporting Canada without any evidence. It also can't be a coincidence that UK is also supporting them and Australia is also weeding out the intelligence network of India in Australia. So this is a coordinated attack by the Five Eyes due to our improved intelligence activities and it won't change now. This is their way of gaining leverage before we become strong enough to challenge them. They need us to grow to counter China but also can't let us grow enough to challenge them. So this is a preemptive strike.

 

[Leo red]

Already it is garbage pc against drones. Then why to buy it batter order domestic companies to produce batter version we have all technology for it. We already waited long for freedom of defence mfg. Let give more time we will see batter results from domestic companies like LT tata mahendra. Aatmanirbhar will give jobs to Indians. Otherwise in future more Indians leave India for job in Canada.