US offers air defence version of Stryker armoured fighting vehicles to India

NEW DELHI: The US government has offered the Stryker armoured fighting vehicle's air defence system version which can be deployed in high altitude areas to take out enemy aircraft to the Indian military.

"The Americans have offered the Stryker armoured fighting vehicles equipped with air defence systems to the Indian military. They have offered to co-produce the vehicles with Indian entities," defence officials told ANI.

During the 2+2 dialogue with India, the American side had pushed for the co-production of the Stryker armoured combat vehicle and was announced by their Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin as well.

This is not the first time that the US has made the push for the sale of Stryker systems to India and did that in the last few high-level meetings with Indian establishments.

India is considering the proposal made by the American establishment for the Stryker vehicles but has not taken any final decision about it, sources in the security establishment said.

The American proposal has come at a time when the Indian defence industry has made significant progress in the field of developing armoured combat vehicles including vehicles like the Wheeled Armoured Platform developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation in association with private industry.

India has also deployed some of these armoured platforms in the forward areas like the Ladakh sector to help troops respond quickly to emergency situations along the China border. Indian private firms including Bharat Forge and Tata have also made systems and provided them to the defence forces for deployment in forward areas.