Amid border row, Army seeks to upgrade ‘night blind’ infantry combat vehicles

The Indian Army has sought to upgrade its infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) with night-fighting capability to fill a critical operational void in its mechanised infantry fleet at a time of heightened military tensions between India and China in the Ladakh sector, officials familiar with the development said on Monday.
The army on September 4 invited expression of interest (EoI) from Indian vendors for developing prototype and subsequent procurement of upgraded armament for its BMP-2/2K ICVs inducted almost 35 years ago.
“The terrain along our borders lends itself to conduct of large-scale mechanised operations and the belligerence of our adversaries on the borders, necessitate that our capabilities are adequately built up to match the threat,” the EOI said. The army has deployed its ICVs along with tanks and artillery pieces in the Ladakh sector, where the two nuclear powers have been locked in a border row for more than four months.
The army said the armament system on BMP-2/2K — the mainstay of the mechanised infantry — is “night blind as on date” and needs to be upgraded with modern sights to fill capability gaps.