Abhay IFV
Abhay was an infantry combat vehicle created under a tech-demonstration program started in India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO. As its first IFV project, Abhay was designed to provide experience in the construction of AFV components to DRDO, serve as a replacement to India's vast BMP fleet used in its Mechanised Infantry Regiments, and serve as a test bed for weapons and systems to be used on future vehicles, as well as to be a reference for the designs of future vehicles.
A majority of the systems on the vehicle were indigenously developed as projected, excluding 3 out of 4 weapons systems and the power pack.
The program began in the mid-1990s. By 2003, the development of the first Mild Steel prototype was completed and the development of the first armoured prototype was in progress. By 2004, various stages of the vehicle were in the advanced stages of development. By 2005, the first prototype was integrated and tested with indigenous components and the second one was either completed or undergoing testing. By 2008, the Abhay program was officially declared successfully completed by DRDO in the Ministry of Defence Annual Report of 2007–2008.
Allegedly, , at the time recently appointed Director General of DRDO, stated about the Abhay in 2004: "The Abhay is under development. We see it as the future infantry combat vehicle for the Army. It will be a replacement for the Russian made BMPs that the Army has. It should be ready in two years." This was not clarified later on for unknown reasons and the BMP fleet is yet to be replaced with the FICV program in progress.
History
In 1975, the Indian Government appointed an expert panel to undertake a long-term perspective plan for the army. The committee, also called the Krishna Rao Committee Report, was headed by Lieutenant General K.V Krishna Rao. It was mandated to present a perspective till the year 2000, and was required to evaluate national security threats, propose a strategy against them, visualise the future battlefield, determine the size of the army and suggest an incremental build-up of forces. 40 Wide-ranging discussions were carried out by the committee with a number of agencies.A part of the report followed-up on the limited mechanisation of the army that had begun in 1969 with the induction of TOPAS and SKOT armoured personnel carriers. As a result of its recommendations, the Mechanised Infantry Regiment was raised on 2 April 1979, with 14 initial battalions equipped with BMP-1, followed by a further 13 battalions equipped with BMP-2 ICVs by 1990. These changes significantly boosted the offensive/defensive potential of the Indian Army as the regiment provided significant firepower and mobility in any potential conflict. It also kept the doctrine of the armed forces modern, as mechanised infantry were standard practice in other major armed forces by this time.
Technological advancements in the field of armoured vehicles would continue after the collapse of the Soviet Union through DRDO. With the end of the cold war, major changes in the government and liberalization of the Indian economy, India began to focus on self-reliance in all fields. Defence was a major subject to his change, as at the time most of the military equipment in use by the armed forces was imported, resulting in the funding and creation of more arms development programs.
The Abhay was a part of the program to replace aging armoured fighting vehicles with modern ones that fit into the vision of self-reliance. By the mid 1990s, with the invention of modern technologies like thermal sights, digital screens, more effective ERA/NERA etc. the need for a new IFV was apparent and its development feasible. The BMP was no longer competitive as a main-stay IFV for the army as it was designed for a different doctrine that emphasised quantity over quality which meant it was not technologically advanced and thus unable to combat vehicles that were, without the use of the aforementioned doctrine, that India did not follow. This was highlighted in the Gulf War when BMPs under the service of the Iraqi Army were out-ranged, outperformed and destroyed by coalition armored vehicles. Thus the Abhay technology-demonstrator project was started, to locally develop modern technologies that could be incorporated into a replacement for the BMPs that were in service with the Mechanised Infantry Regiment, and to prove that DRDO could complete self-reliance in arms development and procurement.
Development suffered delays from 1998 to 1999 due to the sanctions imposed on India by multiple countries in consequence of Pokhran-II nuclear tests conducted that year. According to Indian Ministry of Defence annual reports released from 2003 to 2008, development of the mild steel hull prototype was completed by 2003, and was being used for testing the automotive systems of the Abhay. The development of the armoured steel prototype was in progress at the same time. By 2004, various stages of the vehicle were in the advanced stages of development, and by 2005 the armoured prototype of the Abhay was complete, using indigenously developed automotive and weapon systems, and armour.
In 2008, DRDO stated about the Abhay:
"The multi-disciplinary, multi-laboratory, Technology Demonstration Programme for development of Infantry Combat Vehicle Abhay, has been successfully completed during the year having realized two prototypes. The successful development programme has imparted a boost to the self-reliance in defence technology. The technologies developed under this programme, such as fire control system, composite armour, hydro-pneumatic suspension and host of other automotive and armament sub-systems can be adopted for futuristic ICV and light tracked vehicle projects."Only two prototypes were made of the Abhay, a mild steel prototype and an armoured prototype.
As of 14 January 2024, DRDO has worked with L&T to develop and test the Zorawar light tank, the first batch of which is to be delivered to the army in April 2024. The tank uses some of the systems developed on the Abhay, such as an Integrated Fire Suppression System or IFSS.
Design
Because the development of the Abhay required several technologies in the fields of materials, electronics, instrumentation, armaments, etc. Multiple DRDO laboratories were involved in the development of this ICV. These were:- IRDE - Development of instruments
- ARDE - Development of the armament system
- DMRL - Development of composite armour
- HEMRL - Development of ammunition
- CFEES - Development of the IFSS
- DEBEL - Development of the Ergonomic layout
- CVRDE - Consultancy on all aspects of development
- DLJ - Development of electronic protection systems
Hull
The hull on both prototypes housed automotive, armament, and running gear systems as well as the turret basket. Out of two prototypes, the first prototype was made from mild steel, whereas the second prototype was made from locally-developed compound steel. The development of the hull helped DRDO in understanding how to create an armoured hull through edge preparation, specialised welding and armour bending techniques. DRDO laboratory Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory based in Bengaluru designed the ergonomical layout of Abhay.Turret
The mild steel prototype used a polygonal shaped turret with sloped armor all around to increase protection by decreasing penetration. For the armoured prototype, a rounded turret was made with the same composite armor as the hull again to increase protection by decreasing penetration. The turret accommodated the gunner and commander housing the electronics and mechanics related to both roles i.e primary and secondary armament systems, sights and monitors, fire control system, etc. Both turrets had suspended light-weight turret baskets, and both the commander and gunner had adjustable seats. Bearing meshed with pinion gear helped in turret traverse and was driven by lightweight precision servo gear drives. Stabilization of the turret was provided through a turret lock when required.Instrumentation
Multiple instruments were indigenously developed by IRDE for the Abhay, including but not limited to:- Gunners Main Sight
- Commanders Thermal Monitor
- Commanders Day Periscope
- Driver's passive night periscope.
The Fire Control Computer provides ballistic offsets to the gun in azimuth and elevation for different ammunition types based upon the range and environmental conditions. The FCC console enables the gunner to key in ammunition type, range, meteorological parameters, mean point of impact, and bore sighting range, etc. before calculating precise offset.
- Muzzle Bore Sight