New Delhi: With threats on two fronts, the Indian Army in an effort to give a boost to its operational capabilities and to modernize its infantry, has issued two Requests for Proposals (RFP) for procuring 7,000 body worn camera systems and around 1,612 ballistic shields with harnesses. These two items are going to be purchased through emergency procurement through the Fast Track Procedure (FTP).
The indigenous content in these ballistic shields should be up to 50 percent. It should have a service life of five years and the maker, according to the RFP, has to provide 60 months warranty for the ballistic shield and 24 months for the harness. The design should be ambidextrous and height not less than 860 mm and the width should not be less than 520 mm. The weight of the ballistic shield should not be over 20 kg plus 5 percent. And ballistic view port and accessories should be attached to the shield.
According to the RFP there should be a harness which will enable hands-free carriage of ballistic shields and once worn should ensure unhindered usage of personal weapons and balanced weight distribution.
The body-worn camera is used by the soldiers for real time video and images and will be useful during counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations. These are small and video recording devices, are compact in size and light weight of about 200 gms and the soldier will wear it on his uniform.
According to the RFP, the battery life should be for around 12 hours of video capturing and for recording there should be two independent video streams – for local record and remote view. The RFP has specified that it should be able to burn in officer ID, location, date, device ID and time and should be capable of operating in extreme temperatures from almost minus 20 degree C to 45 degree C and should be able to support encryption. Also the data gathered should not be editable and the encrypted video should play only on a special player.
In the recent months the Indian Army has issued several RFPs – for 80 mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, 163 high altitude logistic drones, and 1,000 surveillance copters among others.
