Army, MoD look to shut down 'high-tech soldier' programme

Bleak future for one of MoD's 3 'Make' projects

In a blow to the oft-stated plan to build indigenous defence systems through the ‘Make’ category of procurement, the army wants to shut down the Rs 5,000-crore Battlefield Management System (BMS) project. This ambitious plan to network the army’s combat units will digitally interlink fighting soldiers, providing them a common tactical picture in the battlefields of the future.

The concept of BMS is similar to that of home Wifi usage, where multiple family members plug devices onto a common router, interconnecting with each other while also connecting with the external internet. Similarly, in a BMS-equipped unit, combat soldiers, each with