Protected Mobility Vehicles
Context:
- The Army has floated a Request for Information to purchase Protected Mobility Vehicles (PMV) for high-altitude areas and for deserts and plains.
About:
- The PMV is essentially an armoured personnel carrier on wheels. It protects the personnel inside the truck from mine bursts and small-arms attacks.
- The soldiers aboard these vehicles could be members of any quick response squad travelling to a combat zone or patrolling parties heading to border areas. They could also be part of a reconnaissance team working behind enemy lines or in front of own forces’ lines of fire.
Specifications:
- Ballistic protection is required, as well as the ability to shield the vehicle from grenade and mine blasts. It should have a top speed of 90 kilometres per hour on the road and 40 kilometres per hour in cross-country terrain. In high-altitude settings, they should be able to work in temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Celsius to minus 15 degrees Celsius.
- A weapon mount for a 7.62 mm Light Machine Gun (LMG) and a turret with 360-degree rotation for an LMG are required for the vehicles. It must also have 11 firing ports, five on each side of the vehicle (starboard and port) and one in the back. The PMV must be able to cross water.
Status in India:
- India has the capability of producing PMVs.
- In April this year, the Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) handed over the first of such Infantry Protected Mobility Vehicles (IPMVs) to the then Chief of Army Staff, Gen MM Naravane.
- The TASL is now the first private sector company in the country to produce such wheeled armoured personnel carriers and has developed the IPMV in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Source: THE HINDU.
