FICCI Demands Indian MoD To Restart FICV Program

FICCI has demanded the Indian Army and Ministry of Defense to restart the Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) project.

In the view of recent selection of two Indian consortia for Battlefield Management System (BMS) project, FICCI believes government should focus on ‘MAKE’ projects as India’s  defence needs can be addressed by customized development of products based on  geographic and strategic requirements, the association stated in the press release on Tuesday.  

The FICV will have a combat weight of less than 20 tons, amphibious capability, a third generation fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile, automatic grenade launcher and co-axial machine gun.

The Indian Army plans to produce 3,000 vehicles to replace upgraded Russian combat vehiclesat a cost of over $10 billion under the FICV program, first conceived in 2009.

These products will help India in inching towards the goal of self- reliance, besides giving the user a sense of pride from a ‘MAKE in India’ technology, the statement added.

The success of the project will boost the confidence of foreign investors and defence companies in partnering with Indian industry in keeping with the ‘Make in India’ vision.

The MAKE project is a Network Centric Program aimed at developing an indigenous prototype of BMS for the Indian Army under the MAKE category of the Defence Procurement Procedure.