 "The undated photograph shows BAE System's BvS10 all-terrain vehicle. (Photo: BAE Systems)")
The Larsen & Toubro on Wednesday announced it had secured a contract from the Ministry of Defence for 18 all-terrain vehicles.
Under the contract, the MoD will procure British defence giant’s BAE System’s all-terrain ‘BvS10’ vehicles for the Indian Army that L&T will manufacture in India under transfer of technology. The Indian variant of the vehicle will be called ‘Sindhu’.
Breaking Defense reported that the Indian Army will procure 18 BvS10 Sindhu vehicles under the deal.
Darren Restaric, the BAE Systems Hägglunds Regional Director, told the outlet that BvS-10 had successfully passed vehicle trials at altitudes as high as 18,000 feet above mean sea level.
“This deal represents technology transfer, know-how and technical support,” said Restarick.
The cost of the deal has not yet been disclosed.
The BvS10 is currently in service in Austria, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Germany has also placed an order.
What will be BvS10 ‘Sindhu’ used for?
The Indian Army will use BvS10 ‘Sindhu’ all-terrain vehicles in tough geographies ranging from mountains to marshes.
The contract will include a comprehensive integrated logistic support package for initial deployment, maintenance, and life cycle sustainment.
All 18 vehicles will be troop-carrying variant, according to Breaking Defence.
The vehicles are modular in nature and can be reconfigured as per the operator’s needs or the needs of the mission. In addition to carrying troops, L&T’s statement said the vehicle could also be used for command and control, ambulance service, vehicle repair and recovery, logistics support, situational awareness, as well as vehicle-mounted lethality and support weapons.
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View AllRestaric, the BAE’s Regional Director, told Breking Defence that the deal involved finding solutions to supply issues because of the terms of the deal.
“This contract addresses and manages many of the challenges customers and users now face in the world. How do we deal with security of supply? How do we create assurance in our supply chains? Because under ‘Make in India’ requirements of BvS-10, L&T has to deliver greater than 60 percent indigenous content that exponentially increases the scope and capacity for us to provide all of our customer base potential security of supply going forward,“ Restarick said.