Breaking & Thumkar Exclusive: Indian Army Seeks its Own Armata - Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV)

The newly unveiled Russian Armata tank

The Indian Army plans to design and develop a futuristic combat vehicle called the Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV)  to replace the T-72 tanks of the Armored Corp starting 2025-27. [RFI]

This tracked fighting vehicle would feature a modular design that will be leveraged to create a family of combat vehicles.

The FRCV's modular design would be flexible to an extent where it can be configured to operate in varying terrain.

The following variants are planned to be developed on the FRCV platform:

1. Tracked Main Battle Tank - Primary variant.
2. Tracked Light Tank.
3. Wheeled Version.
4. Bridge Layer Tank (BLT).
5. Trawl Tank and Mine Ploughs.
6. Armored Recovery Vehicle (ARV).
7. Self Propelled Artillery Gun/Howitzer.
8. Air Defense Gun/Msl System.
9. Artillery Observation Post Vehicle.
10. Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicle.
11. Armored Ambulance.
12. FRCV Development Process

The FRCV has been conceived as a Design and Development project, to be executed in three stages as under:

1. Design Stage.
2. Prototype Development Stage.
3. Production Stage.

During the three development stages, the Design Agency and Developing Agency (DA) could be separate entities. The best design would be chosen and given to nominated DA(s) for production of the prototype(s). The selected prototype will be given to Production Agency(s) (PAs) for bulk production.

The FRCV would be required to conduct sustained continuous operations by day and night in all weather conditions in terrain and temperature ranges obtaining on India’s Western borders.

The FRCV should be in the `Medium Tank’ category whose physical dimensions should facilitate transportability over existing terrain, in-service military bridges and major civilian infrastructure (including bridges) in the border areas (on either side of the Western border).

Crew

The number of crew members should be such that they can perform their

designated tasks, and operate all on-board systems without hindrance and without any overlapping of duties/ responsibilities.

Fire Power

Should be well matched to contemporary MBTs in engagement ranges, all weather day/night fighting capability, depth of penetration and variety of ammunition.

Should have very high accuracy [High FRHP (First Round Hit Probability)] and very high lethality [High SSKP (Single Shot Kill Probability)], at par with contemporary MBTs.

Protection.

Should provide very high all-round protection, including ballistic, active and any other form of anti-armor technologies, to ensure survivability in the contemporary and future battlefield.

Should incorporate signature reduction technologies.

High response evasion/ anti-detection system.

Mobility

Should have adequately high power-to-weight ratio to enable all on-board systems to be run simultaneously, without disrupting the agility and mobility of the vehicle.

Should have high operating range, comparable to contemporary MBTs

IDP Sentinel members can read more details at the link below

Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV) - IDP Sentinel