Next-gen combat vehicle with UAV, loitering weapons to replace Army's T-72s

A future-ready combat vehicle (FRCV) is set to replace the Indian Army’s Russian-origin T-72 main battle tanks, with an estimated 1,800 units — conceived as a “multiple weapon platform” — to be developed and inducted over the coming years. The 15-year defence modernisation plan announced last week envisions the FRCV operating in a highly network-centric environment along the northern and western borders.

The Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap (TPCR), which provides the defence industry with an insight into the Armed Forces’ capability requirements for the next 15 years, has highlighted the need for an FRCV expected to serve in the Army for at least 40 years after induction. Drawing on lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war — where autonomous systems have inflicted lethal damage on massed armoured forces — a key feature of the planned combat vehicle will be its ability to control a range of unmanned systems.

The FRCV will incorporate human-machine teaming and integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities — critical for survival on the modern battlefield, where the kill chain — or the process of identifying, targeting, engaging, and destroying a threat — has been compressed from around half an hour to barely three minutes. These capabilities will be enabled by a “fully digitised system” designed to support human-machine collaboration and the control of on-board or off-board unmanned systems, including unmanned ground and aerial vehicles as well as loitering munitions. Operating surveillance drones and loitering munitions as a unified system from the FRCV will further allow strikes beyond line of sight.  To function in a network-centric environment, the planned platform will also feature an integrated battlefield management system and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) capability. These will give soldiers operating the vehicles a shared operational picture, accessible across the services, and support collaborative, all-weather operations. For instance, if an Air Force platform detects an adversary force, Army elements will simultaneously gain real-time access to that information.

The FRCV will also carry day-and-night sensors mounted on its hull and turret, offering a 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding environment. These inputs will feed into the forces’ broader Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) system.

The future vehicle is also envisioned to be fully hardened against cyberattacks and capable of operating in a contested electronic warfare environment. It will be designed to counter adversary jamming, ensuring unrestricted and secure voice and data communication, as well as reliable control of drones. In an increasingly global positioning system (GPS)-denied battlefield, this capability will be vital.

The FRCV’s requirements appear aligned with — and intended to advance — the army’s reorganisation into new frontline formations — the ‘Rudra’ all-arms brigades, ‘Bhairav’ light commando battalions, and ‘Shaktibaan’ artillery regiments. These recently announced elements represent the latest stage in a two-decade effort to reshape land warfare, aimed at reducing the interval between political decision-making and military action, while also addressing the lessons from Operation Sindoor and doctrinal changes by China’s People’s Liberation Army. Together with the air force and navy, the army is working to align force structure, technology, logistics, command and control, and doctrine to create an agile force capable of operating across the spectrum of next-generation warfare.