Binny Winson

The Indian Army has a fleet of more than 150,000 vehicles. The services buy around 7,000 new trucks every year, a volume attracting commercial vehicle manufacturers to invest in meeting peculiar military standards. This year at DefExpo 2012, traditional truck manufacturers Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland were joined by the new competitor Asia Motor Works, each taking aim at specific segments of this huge market.

The centerpiece of the Russian display at Defexpo 2012 is undoubtedly the T-90MS upgrade program developed by the Russian Uralvagonzavod corporation. The T-90MS upgrade was unveiled August 2011 at Nizhni Tagil, Russia and is making its international debut here in New Delhi.

The introduction of the "Buy and Make (Indian)" category in the defense acquisition process aims to increase participation by the Indian Industry for meeting India’s requirements for state-of-the-art defense systems and platforms. The procedure will enable Indian defense sector firms to get into tie-ups with technology providers through the mode of technology transfer and joint ventures.