Mahindra & DRDO has developed 8×8 Wheeled Armoured Vehicle which was spotted on trial somewhere near its factory. The vehicle can be mounted with Machine Gun, RCWS & can carry many fully loaded Soldiers in Operations. This was reported by Twitter handle maintained by Vivek Singh.

Development of WhAP 8 x 8 Amphibious Wheeled Armoured Vehicle with common platform is for various intended roles like Wheeled APC, 30 mm Infantry Combat Vehicle, 105 mm Light Tank, command post vehicle, ambulance, special purpose platform, 120 mm mortar carrier, CBRN Vehicle.

CRPF gets armoured vehicle that works on land and water to fight militants in Kashmir. The CRPF had inducted in Aug 2023 the new Wheeled Armoured Amphibious Platform (WhAP) vehicles in terrorist affected south Kashmir. The 8X8 vehicles have been jointly built by TATA & DRDO and can carry 12 equipped soldiers including the driver. A variant of the vehicle can be mounted with a remotely operated turret over its roof.

With bigger plans for modern infantry vehicles taking much more than their time, the Indian Army announced this week it is looking for a rapid infusion of wheeled armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) that it wants to deploy in the Pakistan-facing border sectors of Punjab and Rajasthan to augment and support in-service tank regiments as a combat support platform. Unveiling plans on a competitive bid next July, the Army says it wants 198 wheeled (8×8) armoured fighting vehicles for the reconnaissance and support roles, armed with guided anti-tank weaponry.

Much lighter and transportable than main battle tanks like the T-90/72, the Army has been looking to create a new wheeled US Army-style AFV capability within mechanised units that would provide military planners with a low maintenance arsenal of vehicles that’s quick to air-deploy if necessary in combat-ready configuration.

While the Army has indicated it would prefer to use the Buy Indian (IDDM – Indigenously Designed, Developed & Manufactured) route of the Defence Procurement Procedure, it has left the door open to vendors looking for another route as long as they make a case. On the face of it, potential vendors could include TATA Motors, Mahindra Defence, Reliance Defence, L&T and Kalyani Defence reported renowned defence journalist Shiv Aroor on his blog.