See through armour to Anti-done Capability | Army massively upgrading BMP-2 ICV

BMP-2 : The Backbone of ICV

Latest update on Upgrade

As reported by The Print, Army has initiated trials involving three private Indian companies for the upgrade of the over 2,500 Russian Infantry combat vehicles — BMP II. The programme is being pursued through the government’s iDEX (Innovation for Defence Excellence) initiative in which three firms have qualified. The three firms, in contention are Tonbo Imaging, Big Bang Boom and Dimensions NXG. the biggest change would be the “see through armour” that will enable the men inside the BMPs to get a full view of the external situation while still inside, be it night or day. The see-through armour is going to be a big technological leap that will increase situational awareness. The BMPs will be fitted with over half a dozen cameras which will be integrated with a helmet display. The headgear displays images of the surroundings to the commander of the tank as if he was seeing through the armour.

The upgrade also includes a specialised ammunition that can be fired in the air to explode mid-air to take down drones and loitering munitions. The focus of upgrades is on a comprehensive solution targeting the BMP 2’s Gunner Main Sight, Commander Panoramic Sight, Fire Control System, Automatic Target Tracker and Laser Range Finder.

Another acquisition planned is that of the Canister Launched Loiter Munition System integrated on BMP 2/ Carrier Mortar Tracked (CMT) chassis. These upgrades are going to make BMP-2 platform at par with any ICV in service around the world and will boost army's capability especially at LAC.

Upgrade of 811 BMP-2

The upgrade process of BMP-2 is not something new, it started last year in August. The biggest issue with BMP-2 is lack of night operational capability. They don’t have thermal imaging fire control systems, which literally makes them blind when the sun sets, or when there is smoke, dust or fog.

Last year, a project sanction order (PSO) has been issued by Indian army to 12 domestic private and public sector companies –also referred as Development Agencies – to produce a retrofitted prototype within 52 weeks or by July 31, 2022) for user trials.

One infantry combat vehicle was to be supplied to each potential vendor by the Indian Army for the upgrade. Thereafter, at least two vendors were to be selected from amongst those who met the Indian Army’s preliminary staff qualitative requirement (PSQRs) for the upgraded ICVs, and the one that emerged L1, or the lowest bidder, would be shortlisted to upgrade 811 BMP-2 platforms.

These upgrades include, equipping them with more powerful engines, night fighting capability and variety of advanced systems. A more powerful engine will be by replacing their present UTD20/2 300hp power packs. The ICVs will be equipped with third-generation thermal imager-based gunner and panoramic sights, modern fire control systems and automatic target trackers. The retrofit would also encompass upgrading the platforms on-board weapon systems that will include a 30mm 2A42 auto-canon with dual ammunition feeds, capable of firing 9M113 Konkurs wire-guided anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) and a secondary coaxial 7.62x54mm machine gun.

639 BMP-2 upgrade to BMP-2M standards

Earlier, in July 2017, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had approved Rs 2400 crore for upgrade of 639 BMP-2/2K ICVs to BMP-2M standards by the state-owned OFB. This included fitting them with six-cylinder four stroke UTD-23 supercharged 360hp diesel engines and thermal imaging fire control systems (TIFCS). Some are also reportedly being armed with the locally developed Nag ATGMs and automatic grenade launchers. In June 2020, the MoD had approved the procurement of 156 license-built BMP-2 ICVs from the OFB Medak unit in Telangana that has been series producing the ICVs since 1987.

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