JOIN USAiming to improve target hitting of tanks and armoured vehicles, Indian Army plans to buy about 2,000 pieces of laser-guided simulation firing-support equipment, which will be used by the armoured and mechanised infantry regiments.
The Army issued a request for information on July 25 to global vendors that produce these equipment used by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces. The plan is to buy 2,000 pieces of these equipment at a cost of approximately Rs 1,000 crore within the next four years.
These laser-guided instruments would be fitted inside gun tubes. They will help gunners to acquire and lock on to the target before firing, thereby improving the number of hits.
The Army plans to install these equipment in close to 55 armoured regiments operating Russian origin T-72 and T-90 tanks as well as 45 mechanised infantry regiments, which are using Russian BMP infantry combat vehicles.
The plan was to equip one-third of tanks or BMPs in each regiment with this simulator, reliable sources said.
Some of the regiments currently use an old generation simulator, made by Bangalore-based Bharat Electronics Limited, for tanks and BMPs. But these simulators are 15 years old now and had major problem in the target alignment, said an officer.
Also those instruments were cumbersome and difficult to install.