“Army is buying American Stryker when it has Made-In-India alternatives”, Swarajyamag, June 24, 2024:
“Indian Army’s fascination for imported equipment is once again coming to the fore. United States National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan was in India for a two-day visit where he met various leaders of the newly-elected Narendra Modi government. Sullivan also met NSA Ajit Doval, where according to reports several national and security topics were discussed, including the co-production of Stryker armoured personnel carriers (APCs) in India.
Wheeled APCs are armoured vehicles that are primarily used to transport troops, supplies or equipment in the battlefield. They generally have protection against small arms fire of up to 14.5mm calibre weapons. They cannot withstand fire from larger calibre weapons, and that is why APCs are not deployed at the frontlines, which is a task performed by tracked infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) which have thicker armour, making them capable of withstanding fire from larger calibre weapons. Tracked IFVs are more mobile, owing to the usage of tracks instead of wheels.
On the other hand, unlike tracked IFVs, wheeled APCs are easier to maintain and are able to ford and swim across water bodies which the heavier IFVs cannot do. The United States Army has been using Stryker since the early 2000s. It has various variants which can be configured by changing its payload, such as a mobile hospital, a mounted gun system (with a 105mm main gun), a nuclear, biological, chemical, and reconnaissance variant, an anti-tank guided missile, and a command variant. However, the ongoing discussions of manufacturing Stryker in India are perplexing if not a slap on the face of the government’s atmanirbharta in defence programme……”
Read the full article at Swarajyamag.com
