BMP-2M
Based on operational requirement, as of May 2013 the entire Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV) fleet of the Indian Army was to be modernized to enhance their capability. In the ICV fleet, armament and firepower capability are being upgraded with the latest generation Fire Control System, Twin Missile Launchers and Commander's Thermal Imaging Panoramic sights. These ICVs wil also be equipped with the latest generation Anti Tank Guided Missiles and Automatic Grenade Launchers. The ICV proposal for the Armament upgrade of BMP-2/2K to BMP-2M and New Power Pack for BMP-2/2K wil cost an estimated `8000 crore.
Weighing 14.3 tonnes and operated by a three-man crew, including the commander and gunner and powered by a UTD20/3 300hp diesel engine, the BMP-2s are capable of transporting seven fully-equipped infantrymen. The ICVs have an operational range of 600km and are capable of travelling at a maximum speed of 65kph on roads, 45kmph off-road and at 7kmph when engaged amphibiously.
Under the proposed upgrade, the BMP-2’s current power pack will be upgraded from 285 horsepower to 380. The upgrade also will provide better observation and surveillance, night-fighting capability, fire control system and anti-tank guided missile system. The vehicle will gain a capability of having two missiles loaded in ready-to-fire mode, allowing the gunner to fire missiles of his choice. The fire control system would have a ballistic control with sensors to monitor wind and temperature, and should have an advance accurate firing capability. A new turret is required to increase firepower and to fire new types of ammunition, and there is a requirement for a comprehensive electro-optic fire control system.
In 12 July 2017, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved the ongoing Rs 2,400 crore upgrade of 639 BMP-2/2K to BMP-2M standards by the state-owned OFB. India’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, awarded the ICV upgrade on 8 July to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), both of which are state-owned companies.
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. Equipping the ICVs with TIFCS’ followed a rare admission by the force in 2020 that the BMP2/2K’s, inducted into service 1985 onwards were ‘night blind’ and that their sighting systems, based on Image Intensifier Technology were ‘not fit for modern day warfare’. Many such BMPs had been deployed to eastern Ladakh in response to the enduring standoff, since May 2020 between the IA and China’s People’s Liberation Army along their disputed Line of Actual Control or LAC.
The IA had so far acquired 2,691 BMP-2/2Ks since the mid-1980’s, of which around 1,700 were presently operational, doubling in many instances as armoured ambulances, amphibious bulldozers and engineer reconnaissance vehicles. Some ICVs, with modified chassis have also been employed as Nag missile carriers (NAMICA) – capable of carrying up to six locally developed Nag ATGMs – and as part of the medium-range surface-to-air (SAM) Akash air defence missile systems to transport their indigenously designed Rajendra phased array fire control radar. And in June 2020, the MoD had approved the procurement of 156 licence-built BMP-2 ICVs from the OFB Medak unit in Telangana that has been series producing the ICVs since 1987. Officials indicated that OFB Medak is required to complete delivery of all 156 ICVs within 24 months.
Senior IA officials told Jane’s that the ICV upgrade was “arbitrarily” awarded to the two state-owned companies without user trials, and that the approval of the OFB/BEL-designed fire control system was sanctioned merely on a “performance demonstration”. Mandatory maintainability, quality assurance, and electro-magnetic interference trials were not carried out, a senior industry executive told Jane’s on condition of anonymity. “Under pressure from the army, which wanted the ICV upgrade to be fast-tracked, the MoD also ignored several indigenous private sector companies who had developed assorted technologies for the BMP-2 upgrade,” the source said. Many of these potential vendors were involved in the MoD’s long-pending Future ICV programme and wanted to try out their technologies in the BMP-2/2K upgrade project, the source added.
The IA kickstarted its long-delayed upgrade of 811 BMP2 ICVs to meet the challenge posed by the PLA in Ladakh. Senior IA officers, however, told Janes that the ICV upgrade was a ‘major project’ to execute locally and faced ‘serious’ financial and technological challenges. It was also possible that the deadline to produce a prototype in 52 weeks by July 2022 could also be rescheduled. Jane’s experts added that the ‘Sarath’ ICVs lacked several mission systems that were fairly standard, rendering an upgrade a ‘necessity to avoid obsolescence’ until a replacement platform was procured or the long-delayed Future Infantry Combat Vehicle or FICV was developed. The financially and technologically ambitious $12 billion FICV programme, initiated in 2009 to locally design and build 2,610 20-22 ton ICVs as replacements for the BMP-2.2Ks has been abandoned, revived and once again dumped several times.
Meanwhile, industry officials, for their part were sceptical over whether the ICV upgrade would meet the mandated 50% indigenous requirement for the programme, as a large proportion of systems needed for its upgrade would necessarily be imported, as developing them locally would not only be expensive but also time consuming. “Hopefully, the elaborate ICV upgrade project will not flounder over the seemingly unattainable requirement for indigenisation in the name of atmanirbharta or self-reliance,” said Amit Cowshish, former Ministry of Defence advisor on acquisitions. It’s time for the MoD and services to err on the side of practicality in such programmes rather than get bogged down in procedural complexities, many of which are unattainable, he added.
The Indian Army (IA) in August 2021 initiated the indigenous upgrade of 811 of its licence built Soviet-era BMP-2/2K ‘Sarath’ infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) by equipping them with more powerful engines, night fighting capability and varied advanced systems. The force despatched a project sanction order (PSO) to 12 domestic private and public sector companies – referred to as Development Agencies (DAs) – to produce a retrofitted prototype within 52 weeks (or by July 31, 2022) for user trials, UK’s Jane’s Defence Weekly reported on August 17. One ICV apiece would be supplied to each potential vendor by the IA for this purpose, the classified 12-page PSO stated.
Thereafter, at least two vendors would be selected from amongst those who met the IA’s preliminary staff qualitative requirement (PSQRs) for the upgraded ICVs, and the one that emerged L1, or the lowest bidder, would be shortlisted to series upgrade all 811 platforms, Jane’s stated. The magazine said officials associated with the ICV upgrade stated that the BMP-2 upgrade would be processed under the Buy Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured (Indian-IDDM) category of the Defence Procurement Procedure-2020 (DPP-2020), which mandates a 50% domestically sourced content for the retrofit.
The potential vendors on the IA’s list include Alpha Design Technologies, Bharat Electronics Limited, Bharat Forge, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Reliance Defence and Infrastructure and Tata. All these companies would be permitted to enter into collaborative agreements with overseas original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for the project, and according to industry sources many already had already finalised cooperative arrangements
Official sources told Jane’s that the projected ICV upgrade would include fitting them with more powerful engines to replace their present UTD20/2 300hp power packs, 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 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.
Defence PSU Armoured Vehicle Nigam Limited (AVNL) unveiled the BMP-2M infantry combat vehicle (ICV) at DefExpo 2022, being held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from 18 to 22 October 2022. According to the company, the BMP-2M is an upgraded BMP-2 with a loitering munition system (LMS), fifth-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and an armament upgrade with an integrated fire-control system (FCS).
The LMS, manufactured by Telangana-based Avision Systems, provides improved endurance and manoeuvrability to the BMP-2M, ensuring high accuracy against static or moving targets. The comprehensive operational range of Avision's LMS is from 5 km short-range tactical strikes to 250 km long-range strategic operations. The LMS also consists of multiple launcher options, stabilised electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) seeker payload, a triple-mode fuse, and an operator control unit. AVNL said that the LMS delivers independence and flexibility to front-line forces with minimal collateral damage.
The fifth-generation ATGM provides enhanced lethality to the BMP-2M against all types of targets. The range of the ATGM fitted in the BMP-2M for a ground launch is 5.5 km and that for an aerial launch is 10 km.
The Ministry of Defence, on March 13, 2024, signed a contract with Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) for the procurement of 693 Armament Upgrades of Infantry Combat Vehicle BMP2 to BMP2M. This upgrade includes Night Enablement, Gunner Main Sight, Commander Panoramic Sight and Fire Control System (FCS) with Automatic Target Tracker under Buy {Indian-Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured} Category.
The AVNL developed an indigenised solution for providing existing BMP 2/2K with Night Fighting Capabilities and FCS based on the integration of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Chennai-developed sight and FCS. The AVNL will produce the armament upgrades with equipment and sub-systems sourced from indigenous manufacturers. This will further strengthen the indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem and accrue the benefits of the increasing self-reliance in this field.
