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08 Mar 16. Tata Motors, Bharat Forge and GDLS partner for Indian Army’s FICV programme. A consortium led by Tata Motors is planning to bid for the Indian Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) futuristic infantry combat vehicles (FICVs) contract. The consortium, which is comprised of Bharat Forge and General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), will compete for the Indian Army’s FICV contract worth $10bn. Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles executive director Ravi Pisharody said: “We at Tata Motors are proud to have joined hands with Bharat Forge and General Dynamics Land Systems, for a complete FICV solution for the Indian Armed Forces.
“Through this partnership we will be better positioned to help the country realise its ‘Make in India’ vision, for the first completely indigenised combat vehicle, at the same time cater to the opportunities available right here in India.
“We at Tata Motors have invested time and resources towards the indigenisation of our products and solutions, and are proud to have made significant progress with a working example of a wheeled prototype of the ICV, called the ICV Kestrel, developed jointly with DRDO.”
The FICV is conceived as a compact, tracked and amphibious, air-portable, high-mobility armoured vehicle.
It is expected to fire anti-tank guided missiles to ranges beyond 4km, as well as carry three crew members and eight infantry.
The FICV will replace the Indian Army’s fleet of legacy 2610 Russian-built BMP series armed vehicles.
The order to build 70% of the vehicle will be awarded only to Indian firms, with options for technology tie-ups with foreign companies.
(Source: army-technology.com)
07 Mar 16. 30mm RWS for MIV? Sources close to BATTLESPACE suggest that the preferred main armament system for the UK MoD’s Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV)vehicle is a 30mm Remote Weapon Station, not the 40mm CT40 turret as proposed for Ajax and Warrior. The RWS would be offered by Kongsberg, Finmeccanica, and ADWS amongst others. Still in the planning stage the favourite vehicle appears to be a Stryker derivative with Piranha 4 and 5 under consideration with VBCI, Patria and FNSS vehicles.
Other sources suggest that CT40 is still suffering from barrel wear problems with some suggesting as many as 2 extra barrels per gun having been ordered. It is not clear whether the ‘last round jam,’ problem has been solved with a solution other than a pointed stick!
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Millbrook, based in Bedfordshire, UK, makes a significant contribution to the quality and performance of military vehicles worldwide. Its specialist expertise is focussed in two distinct areas: test programmes to help armed services and their suppliers ensure that their vehicles and systems work as the specification requires; and design and build work to upgrade new or existing vehicles, evaluate vehicle capability and investigate in-service failures. Complementing these is driver and service training and a hospitality business that allows customers to use selected areas of Millbrook’s remarkable facilities for demonstrations and exhibitions.
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