Indian Army Upgrades Future Infantry Forces

Indian Army Upgrades Future Infantry Forces

Indian Army soldiers with the 99th Mountain Brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 5th Gurkha Rifles, execute an ambush for paratroopers with the U.S. Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, May 7, 2013, at Fort Bragg, N.C. The soldiers are participating in Yudh Abhyas, an annual bilateral training event between the armies of the United States and India sponsored by U.S. Army Pacific. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod)

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To prepare for future wars, the Indian Army is in the process of modernizing all its arms, including the infantry force, which is a considerable part of the 1.4 million strong Army.

The Indian Army has recently decided to split the Future Infantry Soldier As a System (F-INSAS) program into two separate projects.

The new program will have two components: one arming the modern infantry soldier with the best available assault rifle, carbines and personal equipment such as the helmet and bulletproof vests; among others, the Israeli Tavor assault rifle is among the candidates for the future Indian soldier.

The second component is the Battlefield Management Systems (BMS).

Observers say that the bifurcation has been done on account of the budgetary convenience.

In the BMS category goes all the communication and optical equipment of a modern soldier which includes palm-top communication equipment and the helmet mounted cameras.

Already in January 2017, it was reported that the system will merge all the information to give the soldier a real-time picture of the battlefield. The tactical level communication will take place over secure radio networks, while India’s communication satellites will allow for command level communication. Each soldier will have a personal GPS device and will be able to see the position of other soldiers via a helmet mounted display, according to indiatimes.com.

The assault weapon field trials are going on: there are four kinds, Baretta (Italy), Colt (USA), Bren (Czech) and Tavor (Israel). The last has already been chosen for Indian Special Forces.

Vice Chief of Army staff, Lt General Philip Campose, told defenseworld.net: “There is no F-INSAS program any more”. He detailed how the army adopted the program in a way that keeps the infantry soldier less burdened by technology, and more agile to carry out his tasks.