India-based Hinduja Group firm Ashok Leyland has won a tender for developmental works for the Indian Army’s defence tracked combat vehicles.
Under the deal, the automobile company will work in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE).
Go deeper with GlobalData
The two organisations will jointly carry out the production, assembly and testing of a lightweight clutch in order to design and develop weight-optimised 1,500hp automatic transmission for the army’s main battle tanks.
Ashok Leyland Defence head Amandeep Singh said: “For over three decades, Ashok Leyland has been a vital part of our defence forces through our mobility solutions.
“As part of our strategy to enhance our contribution to our defence forces and to expand our business scope within our focus area of ‘Solutions for Mobility on Land’, we have been working on tracked vehicles. With this win, we mark yet another milestone where we start working on the tracked vehicles that our soldiers use.”
According to Singh, the company sees a potential opportunity to upgrade and repower the BMPs or tanks in service with the Indian Army.
In addition, Ashok Leyland is engaged in building indigenous solutions for power packs and running gear that would help overhaul both the service’s existing fleet of infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) and the new future infantry combat vehicles (FICVs).
Singh added: “We are proud that we are the only vehicle manufacturer in India having indigenously designed, developed and manufactured power packs beyond 350HP.
“The tracked combat vehicle opportunity also exists in several other countries which use Russian-made combat vehicles.”
