Indian Army’s Battlefield Management System (BMS) project has taken another step with the government down-selecting two Indian industry consortia, namely, Tata Power and Larsen & Turbo and Bharat Electronics Limited and Rolta, as development agencies (DA) for BMS in the ‘Make’ category.

Project BMS was envisaged to enable a faster decision process by commanders at all echelons, enable better decision due to reliable operational information provided in real-time and have the ability to quickly close the sensor to shooter loop by integrating all surveillance means to facilitate engagement through an automated decision support and command and control system, exploiting technology for mission accomplishment in the Tactical Battle Area (TBA) by rapid acquisition, processing and transfer of information, enhanced situational awareness, capability to react to information, sharpen ability to synchronise and direct fire, plus establish and maintain overwhelming operational tempo.

The BMS will comprise a tactical handheld computer with individual warfighter and tactical computers at Battle Group HQ and combat vehicles enabling generation of common operational picture by integrating inputs from all relevant sources by integrated use of GIS and GPS with a high data rate. The DAC had approved the BMS as a ‘Make India’ project in 2011 and following completion of the Integrated Project Management Study (IPMS) and issue of the expression of interest (EoI) it was earlier envisaged that DA’s would be selected around March 2014. The system customised to the specific army requirement needs to be first integrated and tested in a controlled environment for which a test bed laboratory will need to be established. After testing in the laboratory conditions, validation trials of the system will be carried out in-field conditions. After successful validation of the system in field, the process for equipping will begin.

Phase I of Project BMS comprising test bed laboratory and field trials at test bed location of one Combat Group and three Infantry Battalion Groups by 2012 has been delayed by almost five years. With DA selection done, design phase could commence by June 2015, limited prototype tested in laboratory by December 2016 and finally prototypes developed and fielded for user evaluation by December 2017 (instead of earlier schedule of 2012). The cascading effect has already delayed completion of Phase 2 (Equipping) from initial plan of 2017 to 2022 and Phase 3 (Change Management and Upgradation of System) from 2022 to 2027 as per current status.

This schedule is possible only if there are no further hurdles. The approximate cost of Phase I of the system was earlier estimated to be around Rs. 350 crore, which may now double up. Similarly, the overall project of fielding the BMS in complete Army may jump from initial estimates of some Rs. 23,000 crore to perhaps Rs. 80,000 crore or even more. The Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has welcomed the decision of the selecting the two Indian industry consortia as DAs to develop the prototype BMS. Success of the programme is bound to unleash potential of the indigenous industry in the OIS and ICT fields. FICCI has congratulated the two industry consortia expressing confidence that they would deliver state-of-the-art prototypes within the stipulated time frame at a price that is competitive. 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 success of the project will in turn boost the confidence of foreign investors and defence companies in partnering with Indian industry in keeping with the ‘Make in India’ vision. FICCI also drawn attention of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to delays in finalising the Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV), another ‘Make’ project which has faced inordinate delays, and has called for more projects to be categorised under ‘Make’ to achieve self-reliance in the true sense.

The quest for indigenously developing FICV began in 2007 when Project FICV was conceived on private-public partnership basis in the defence sector. The decision for such partnership was based on government decision that Indian defence industry would be involved in high technology projects with two specific aims—one, to develop required technology base in the defence industrial sector, and two, allowing enmeshing of design and development by single agency, in this case private industry who were to be responsible for erecting production facilities locally for their systems, assemblies and components, in addition to providing any requisite engineering support for integration. Foreign assistance, if required, was envisaged at systems and sub-systems level through industry import that would also help further develop indigenous capabilities through technology transfer.

Following the above procedure, MoD surveyed private and public industry to zero in on potential contractors. Based on the GSQR, EoI was eventually sent to Mahindra Defence Systems, Tatas, L&T and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), each of whom have already submitted both their technical and commercial bids, which are under evaluation. Finally, two DAs were to be shortlisted who would be required to produce five prototypes by 2015 for user trials. Attempt by OFB to partner the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a design partner was not accepted because finally DRDO will be the agency responsible for technology evaluation and approval and hence could not partner OFB. Given the lack of design perspective actually implies that OFB will have to tie up with one of the other vendors for design and development if it wants to compete for the project but DRDO believes it will be approached for key technologies and the OFB which manufactures the BMP-II at Medak for production assistance. However, selection of the DAs for developing the FICV prototypes is still awaited despite inordinate delays. More focus is certainly required at MoD level.