The AFV 2007 the First International Seminar on Armoured Fighting Vehicles, organised by Directorate General Mechanised Forces of Indian Army and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), is in progress.

The two day conference will focus on futuristic requirements of an AFV in the developing battlefield environment, global trends, technologies, communication and system integration. There will also be sessions on up gradation requirements of existing fleet of AFVs to meet the challenges, public-private partnership and technology enhancement affecting training philosophy and training aggregates.

General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army said that Development of right kind of AFV is a long, difficult and arduous process and scientists cannot work in isolation. Users and the producer should be involved in the research and development of AFV to get the preferred outcome in the battlefield, he said. A continuous process of interaction and involvement of industry will definitely bring out indigenously developed AFV of international standard.

General Deepak Kapoor hoped scientists and engineers, based on their experience in designing the Main Battle Tank ‘Arjun’, would be able to develop a more versatile AFV for the army’s future needs. He said the Arjun tank took a longer time to build as this was the first attempt at indigenously developing an integrated and highly sophisticated mobile weapons platform.

Lt. General KDS Shekhawat, DG (Mechanised Forces), in his theme-address, emphasized on the need for a compressed timeframe if the vast resources pumped into developing war machines are to retain cutting edge technology. He said that there are three pillars of development of AFV which are users, design and development and the production agency. He also said that quality assurance is the key element in the development of AFV and Indian Defence Force need to identify the core competence of private partners and PSUs.

A large number of Indian and foreign companies are participating in the two-day seminar hosted jointly by the Directorate General of Mechanised Forces and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Mahindra Defence Systems, a subsidiary of leading automobile maker Mahindra and Mahindra, unveiled their Light Specialist Vehicle ‘Axe’ on the sidelines of the seminar. A Company spokesman said the all-terrain vehicle, which can accommodate six/nine soldiers, will undergo field user trials by the army in Uttarakhand next month. Designed prior to the army’s RFP, the Axe can be shielded against 7.62 mm armoured piercing.

Besides Mahindra, Ford Motors has also showcased its Armoured and Special Purpose Vehicles while TS Kisan and Co. is displaying spares and accessories for T-72 and T-90 tanks and BMP-II. Among others, INTEL Design Systems has also put up an array of chips with defence applications.