Future Ready Combat Vehicle
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The Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV), also designated as Project Ranjeet (lit. 'Victorious in Battle'), is a design and development programme to develop a next generation main battle tank to replace the T-72 fleet of the Indian Army. As of 2024, T-72 is the mainstay of the Indian Army Armoured Corps. Around 1,770 units shall be inducted in three phases (approx. 590 each).[1][2]
On 22 June 2015, it was reported that the Indian Army has released a Request for Information (RFI) to global tank manufacturers to submit proposals to design a "new generation, state-of-the-art combat vehicle platform". The design would serve as the "base platform" for the development of 10 other variants including bridge laying and trawl tanks, self-propelled artillery and air defence gun, a combat engineering vehicle and tracked ambulance. The initiative, from the Directorate General of Mechanised Forces, was named Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV). This was a parallel development with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Future Main Battle Tank (FMBT) which, as of 2010, was expected to be completed by 2020. The FMBT project was worth around ₹25,000 crore (equivalent to ₹560 billion or US$6.6 billion in 2023) for designing, development and testing followed by production at a rate of ₹50 crore (equivalent to ₹112 crore or US$13 million in 2023) per tank. The total project would be worth ₹1.5 lakh crore (equivalent to ₹3.4 trillion or US$40 billion in 2023).[3][4]
FRCV would proceed in three stages - design stage, prototype development stage and production stage. The RFI is open to both domestic and international firms. The prototypes of the competing manufacturers would be tested and evaluated. The "best" prototype would be chosen and then produced by a "nominated developing agency".[3][4] By July 2015, Tata Motors responded to the FRCV RFI that was released in June 2015.[5]
As per the Ministry of Defence, the FMBT and the FRCV are two parallel projects and FRCV is meant for "futuristic requirements beyond 2027" and "not in conflict with the current MBT Arjun programme and its future orders". The Army had been against the further ordering of 118 units of Arjun MkII variant (now, Arjun Mk1A) as it has a weight of around 67 tonnes in spite of successfully demonstrating 53 of the 73 upgrades over Arjun Mk1. Army officers stated that, "Many bridges and culverts in Punjab will not be able to take its weight. Moreover, our rail tank transporters will find it tough to carry the Arjuns from one sector to another".[6]
Design
The tank will have a weight of less than 60 tonnes, carry 4 troops and will feature superior mobility, all terrain ability, multilayered protections, precision and lethal fires, and real-time situational awareness along with artificial intelligence, drone integration, active protection system, network centric operation capabilities. It should be transportable by existing infrastructure of rail, road and aircraft.[1][7][2]
