Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicles (FICVs):
The Indian Army has issued a tender, or a Request For Information (RFI), for the procurement of 1,750 Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicles (FICVs) to replace the Russian-origin infantry vehicles in service.
- This is the Army’s third attempt for the procurement of a new infantry vehicle.
- According to the RFI, the FICVs would be employed for cross-country operations, including amphibious operations in plain and desert terrain along the Western borders and high altitudes, up to 5,000 m, and mountain terrain along the northern borders in eastern Ladakh, the central sector and north Sikkim. They would replace the 1980s vintage Russian-origin BMP-2.
- Based on the responses to the RFI, the Army would finalise the specifications and also decide the procurement category.
- The main operational tasks that would have to performed by the FICV include destroying enemy tanks, armoured personnel carriers, combat vehicles, low-flying helicopters and other ground-based weapon platforms and positions.
