Hanwha plans to participate in India's FICV, light tank programmes

South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace plans to offer its Redback infantry fighting vehicle to fulfil the Indian Army's FICV requirement. (Hanwha Defense)

South Korea's Hanwha Aerospace is planning to participate in some of the Indian Army's most ambitious programmes to procure capabilities including Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicles (FICVs) and light tanks.

A Hanwha Aerospace spokesperson told Janes that the company plans to offer its Redback and K21 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to fulfil the Indian Army's FICV requirement.

The Indian Army seeks to replace its ageing fleet of 2,500 Soviet Union-era BMP-1 and BMP-2 ICVs under the FICV programme. The government approved the FICV procurement in February.

The Redback's armament includes a 30 mm machine gun, a 7.62 mm co-axial gun, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and a remote-controlled weapon station, the spokesperson said.

“It is protected by the configurable armour and active protection system. Situational awareness using the see-through armour technology and team-integrated battle management system has been applied to this combat system.”

“The K21 is a 25 tonne amphibious IFV already in service with the Republic of Korea Army (RoKA) since 2009, whereas the Redback is the latest development of Hanwha. The Redback has already been successfully demonstrated in Australia, Poland, and Korea and it is now generating interest from various other countries as well,” the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson said that the company is in discussions with its Indian partner Larsen & Toubro (L&T) to produce Redback IFVs in India.

Hanwha is also planning to participate in the Indian Army's programme to procure light tanks with its K21-105 light tank.

In April 2021 the Indian Army issued a request for information (RFI) to procure 350 locally manufactured light tanks for deployment in assorted terrains.