Article Posted on : - Mar 14, 2024

AVNL has signed its first major contract with the Indian Army for upgrading a fleet of 693 ICV BMP-II Sarath vehicles. Photo: Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Twitter (X).

NEW DELHI (PTI): The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday signed a contract with Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) for procurement of 693 armament upgrades of infantry combat vehicle BMP2, according to an official statement.

"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 statement said.

The AVNL has 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," it said.

The ministry signed the contract with AVNL "for the procurement of 693 Armament Upgrades of Infantry Combat Vehicle BMP2 to BMP2M".

The AVNL will produce the "armament upgrades with equipment and sub-systems sourced from indigenous manufacturers", the ministry said.

This will further strengthen the indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem and accrue the benefits of the increasing self-reliance in this field, it said.