On June 06, 2022, DAC has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for Capital Acquisition Proposals of the Armed Forces amounting to Rs 76,390 crore under ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ and ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ categories. The list of procurement is huge and one of the items in the list was Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (WhAFVs) with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs). Its most likely going to be Tata WhaP but with more advance turret. WhAP is going to be integrated with ATGMs. Besides ATGMs the anti-tank variant of WhaP is also expected to have added armour protection using external add-on armours. It will also feature Remote control weapon stations with thermal sights.

During the dress rehearsal of Republic Day parade, on 23^rd January, the DRDO has showcased its Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles with Anti-tank guided missile for the first time.

In April, the army has also inducted the Infantry Protected Mobility Vehicle with a 7.62mm MMG RCWS. The IPMVs have been developed and manufactured at the TASL’s Pune facility. They have been built on the strategic 8×8 Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP).

More versions of WhAP

During Defense Expo 2022, three version of Tata WhAP was shown which are ICV or Infantry combat vehicle, IPMV(Infantry Protected Mobility Vehicle) and WhAP. Tata WhAP seems to be base platform or the plain vanilla version of the vehicle.

WhAP features

Tata WhAP features automatic transmission with 600 hp engine. It has ballistic protection of up STANAG level-IV. It has blast protection of STANG Level-III. WhAP also has NBC suit, designed to provide protection against direct contact with and contamination by radioactive, biological or chemical substances, and provide protection from contamination with radioactive materials and all types of radiation.

It can be variety of turret options depending upon the operational role. It can be integrated with a 30mm/40mm RCWS with optical sensors having 360 degrees of surveillance.

We have also seen WhaP with 105mm gun which can act like a light tank. The turret can have either a 105 mm or 120 mm main gun along with 14.5mm or 12.7mm or 7.62mm co-axial machine gun. It also has smoke grenade launcher and option of ATGM as preferred by user.