US Seeks Major Role in India's Rs 57,000 Crore FRCV Project for 1,770 Future-Ready Tanks

The US defence industry is actively pursuing a significant role in India's ambitious military modernization drive. Following a proposal to co-develop Stryker-based armored vehicles, the US is now targeting the massive Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV) program.

The FRCV project, valued at a staggering Rs 57,000 crore, seeks to replace India's aging T-72 tank fleet with 1,770 next-generation combat vehicles by 2030-35. These advanced machines will feature cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), integrated drones, and active protection systems.

Sources indicate that the US is engaging through diplomatic channels, aiming to reduce India's reliance on Russian military hardware. Currently, the Indian Army heavily utilizes Russian tanks, including the T-90, T-72, and even older T-55 models.

India's premier defence research organization, DRDO, is expected to lead the charge, developing an indigenous FRCV solution. Private sector giants like Kalyani, Mahindra Defence, Tata, and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) are also keen to offer their FRCV designs. Potential strategies for these companies may include collaboration with US defense firms to leverage their expertise in main battle tank development.

The FRCV program presents a crucial opportunity for India to achieve self-reliance in main battle tank production. While the US is making strong overtures, the final decision will hinge on the most compelling solution that aligns with India's strategic vision and defence requirements.

 

[sanket]

DRDO should develop on its own FRCV without external help especially US, Atmanirbhar is only way .

 

[bonito]

"engaging through diplomatic channels" should be read as "actively "pressurising" through diplomatic channel"

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

India can develop an active protection system or EW jamming system for tanks with the US.

 

[yogesh]

Reference the article, the United States has excellent defense industrial complexes which apply sciences to build versions of technology that is considered quite advanced. Being a country of immense resources it has a different design paradigm. They believe in making platforms packed with a variety of different systems/features.

our country needs to follow an approach that meets the requirements of the forces but most importantly extends the capabilites of the forces in many ways:

1. A platform needs to be simple yet effective in a battle space
2. Concepts of open architecture makes platform sharing possible while creating an environment that allows ease of maintenance & service
3. Platforms should be able to meet the needs of different countries/forces reducing cost of production
4. Training of engineers & service technicians is much better if the architecture is open making deployment of platforms globally much easier
5. Open architecture models allow multiple vendors to be suppliers which in wars makes good sense.Logistically parts will reach the battlefield with suppliers in that region. We may not need to ship everything from base stations.
6. Keeping design principles simple on one hand while incorporating technology that is important in a battlefield will allow the end user (forces) to be more efficient and effective. They will use what they are trained on and know how to deal with any problems that might occur
7. Logistics is extremely important in wars. Countries can reach locations that previously were challenging. To have platforms that can be effective in any region support centers are needed

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

"engaging through diplomatic channels" should be read as "actively "pressurising" through diplomatic channel"

russia used to do the same to India. Russians used backchannels to get the AK203 deal etc.

 

[Satya Dev]

Tata WhAP costs Rs 23 Crores against Stryker's Rs 45 crores, which may go further up if you want to qualify it under ATMANIRBHAR by assembling CKD kits in LT's 'sophisticated' An!l M@nibh@i N@ik screw driver plant in Gujarat.

 

[NSR]

It is wonderful for US to eye Mega-Defense projects with India in FRCV, Stryker, M2 Bradley IFV, etc but they are darn expensive for Indian budgets to afford.
Most of US armaments have super Gizmos to help fight various threats including drones in future.

But countries like Ukraine, Israel, and even terroristan/beggeristan/jehadistan, etc get them at cut rate or freebies.
But for India it is full price only and no discounts at all. So beware.

Hence India must work assiduously on its own Tanks, Stryker equivalents, APCs, IFVs, WhAPs, etc by dishing out contracts after contracts to private and public companies.

Remeber that most of them will get destroyed by innovative drone systems.

 

[R. Singh]

We should make FRCVs seeking Abram-X tech !

 

[Sandeep]

Tata WhAP costs Rs 23 Crores against Stryker's Rs 45 crores, which may go further up if you want to qualify it under ATMANIRBHAR by assembling CKD kits in LT's 'sophisticated' An!l M@nibh@i N@ik screw driver plant in Gujarat.

The government or the military haven’t said that they are going to buy the Stryker vehicles at all. The USA made an offer and the government just said they will look into the details and evaluate it. So calm down and don’t worry.

 

[Sandeep]

The USA doesn’t operate or have any medium weight tank under development at all so they don’t meet the requirement that India want which is a 50-55t tank. For any heavy weight tanks we have the Arjun where more orders can easily be given. So the chances of the USA contributing to anything in our future tank project is absolute zero.

India has made it absolutely clear that they will develop a brand new indigenous tank only and won’t import or develop a tank with another country. India wants to become self reliant and is making progress in developing the key technology and equipment like a indigenous 1400-1800hp engine, APU, transmission, main gun, Samho/ATGM missile, remote machine gun, active anti drone protection system, hardened metal composition main armour, ERA/NERA, EW, encrypted software defined communications system, net centric capability, operating surveillance and kamikaze drones, anti thermal paint etc etc.

Also the USA have offered to sell the Stryker vehicle with the basic standard technology transferred and local production offered but with absolutely zero in any critical technology like an engine or main gun etc. The Indian government have clearly said that they will look into the details on what’s offered before making a decision. The military and government have clearly made that clear and the chance of buying the Stryker is very very low. We have already invested a lot in our own indigenous IFV/FICV program with the private sector and are making very good progress on it with the technology and capability it will have. We have also developed the TATA Kestrel/WHAP with some orders being placed by using indigenous technology.

 

[Sandeep]

russia used to do the same to India. Russians used backchannels to get the AK203 deal etc.

The military ordered the guns because they didn’t select any indigenous gun that was developed. Also the AK 203 has similar technology and parts to the old AK variants that we ordered and the training, bullets, repairs are already in place so it made sense to get 100% of the technology. Also our paramilitary troops also use the same guns so there is a large amount of guns that’s required.

 

[Tanishq Bafila]

FRCV project is dead for any European company . Just look at the cost of Per tank the ARMY is proposing, with the all the technologies combined that is present today & will be made in upcoming years..

They are asking for a crew of 4 🙄 and weight around 58tonnes

 

[Akshat]

The military ordered the guns because they didn’t select any indigenous gun that was developed. Also the AK 203 has similar technology and parts to the old AK variants that we ordered and the training, bullets, repairs are already in place so it made sense to get 100% of the technology. Also our paramilitary troops also use the same guns so there is a large amount of guns that’s required.

Which indigenous gun participated in that tender?

 

[GMR]

Which indigenous gun participated in that tender?

During the tender, under which the AK is being procured, which dates back to around 13-14 yrs. there were no mature indegenious rifles..

 

[Pramkumar]

India must go with atleast 1500 arjun MBT. in block levels of 250 nos each.

 

[Akshat]

During the tender, under which the AK is being procured, which dates back to around 13-14 yrs. there were no mature indegenious rifles..

But the comment to which I replied said that indigenous guns were developed but not selected by Army. Of course, I know that Sandeep has a habit of giving wrong facts as per his own convenience.

Also, 13-14 years back??? Till as late as 2015 IA was looking for the multi caliber rifle. So the AK tender is t more than 9 years old, at max.

And if there was no Indian rifle, what was IA supposed to do? Wait endlessly?

 

[kumar]

US wants make Indian defence depend on it. Atmanirbhar is the only way.

 

[Calvin]

Collaboration with General dynamics or BAE would be in India's interest... Maybe with TATA or some other private org. DRDO seems to have too much on their hands and no deadlines... We're already far behind China in tech, production and fielding of available technology.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

The military ordered the guns because they didn’t select any indigenous gun that was developed. Also the AK 203 has similar technology and parts to the old AK variants that we ordered and the training, bullets, repairs are already in place so it made sense to get 100% of the technology. Also our paramilitary troops also use the same guns so there is a large amount of guns that’s required.

the deal was announced during putin's visit to india. Also around that time India had pulled out of the 5th gen program with russia. This deal was seen as a way to strengthen ties.
India directly purchased tens of thousands of AK203 rifles from russia, and the initial batch of rifles produced in India only had 25% indigenous content. All in all, I feel that this deal was hugely profitable for russia.

 

[Rajesh]

Atmanirbhar barath has shifted from screwdriving the screws from Russia to America /west.

 

[Sandeep]

the deal was announced during putin's visit to india. Also around that time India had pulled out of the 5th gen program with russia. This deal was seen as a way to strengthen ties.
India directly purchased tens of thousands of AK203 rifles from russia, and the initial batch of rifles produced in India only had 25% indigenous content. All in all, I feel that this deal was hugely profitable for russia.

Buying guns instead of Russian jets wouldn’t satisfy Russia compared to the expensive stealth fighters and money they would have made. Also to strengthen ties doesn’t mean that we should have to buy expensive defence weapons and equipment.

The AK 203 gun will start with 25% of indigenous content but will increase to 100% quickly. The military and CAPF have a huge requirement of over 1 million of these guns. Also India doesn’t have to pay any royalties and can pay in rupees which saves us money on exchange rate fees. So Russia didn’t get a major deal or advantage over us.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Buying guns instead of Russian jets wouldn’t satisfy Russia compared to the expensive stealth fighters and money they would have made. Also to strengthen ties doesn’t mean that we should have to buy expensive defence weapons and equipment.

The AK 203 gun will start with 25% of indigenous content but will increase to 100% quickly. The military and CAPF have a huge requirement of over 1 million of these guns. Also India doesn’t have to pay any royalties and can pay in rupees which saves us money on exchange rate fees. So Russia didn’t get a major deal or advantage over us.

India has to pay a lot in royalties. This was a big problem because costs had increased too much. Buying american rifles was much cheaper than this local assembly of russian rifles. You can do a google search on this issue.

And it will take at least a decade to increase indigenous content to 80-90%. We already have 100% indigenous assault rifles today. But this deal was signed around 5 years ago. We didnt have a proper rifle then

 

[Sandeep]

India has to pay a lot in royalties. This was a big problem because costs had increased too much. Buying american rifles was much cheaper than this local assembly of russian rifles. You can do a google search on this issue.

And it will take at least a decade to increase indigenous content to 80-90%. We already have 100% indigenous assault rifles today. But this deal was signed around 5 years ago. We didnt have a proper rifle then

No in this deal we didn’t end up paying any royalties although Russia wanted to charge us and you can check for further proof in times of India or economic times online. You need to look at official information from proper sources.

Amethi factory: Russia waives royalty in favour of technology transfer, AK 203 assault rifle contract gets green signal

The plan to manufacture has been under discussion for almost two years, with the contract stipulating 100% transfer of technology and possible exports in future from the Indian plant. The Amethi factory in Amethi was inaugurated in 2019 but production is yet to commence.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

As for the American guns they were much cheaper as we ordered a small amount, they were directly imported, we didn’t make them, we didn’t have to pay for royalties or exchange rate charges.

The major problem was that the military were not buying any indigenous gun despite making several attempts. The existing guns were at least 40 years old and many were malfunctioning or damaged. So we had no choice but to make a deal and to make these large orders it takes time to negotiate on the technology transfer, price and raw material content along with conducting trials to ensure it meets our requirements. So it takes about 3 years to finally complete the contract negotiations and then another 2-3 years to build the company, infrastructure, machinery, production lines etc. Also it won’t take 10 years to finally reach 100% of Indian content as it will be sooner than that and eventually we will make about 65% of the guns with 100% of Indian content.

Now that this deal is made we don’t have to order any foreign guns for at least 30-40 years and we can manufacture as many as we want and sell the guns to foreign countries without permission. There is a large market to