The Indian Army Buys Integrated Mobile Camouflage Systems From A New Company

The Indian Army has given its first order for Integrated Mobile Camouflage Systems (IMCS) for Mechanised Forces to an Indian start-up company, Hyper Stealth Technologies Private Limited, in order to reduce thermal and radar signatures. This is the first time that the Indian Army has ever bought something for an Innovations for Defense Excellence (iDEX) project. The contract, which was signed on March 14, 2023, is a big step in the Indian Army’s efforts to encourage innovation and technological development in defence and aerospace.

The order is for a “Integrated Mobile Camouflage System (IMCS)” that was made in India for the Mechanised Forces. The IMCS is made up of low-emissivity and/or CAM-IIR coatings and mobile camouflage system materials that help armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) blend in with their terrain background. This makes AFVs much more stealthy. This niche technology is expected to make stealth technology in India much better, which will help Aatmanirbharta meet the goals of the Government of India (GoI).

The IMCS is said to reduce the detection range of AFVs when viewed through a Hand Held Thermal Imager (HHTI)/Battle Field Surveillance Radar (BFSR) tank-based thermal camera under given environmental and weather conditions and signature management by controlling the object’s visual, thermal, infra-red, and radar signatures.

IMCS was the first system to be tested using the “Single Stage Composite Trial” method, according to the Ministry of Defence. This comes from the updated DAP 2020. And a request for proposals (RfP) was sent to the developing agency in September, and the contract was signed six months later. Balance Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) projects of the Indian Army are also nearing completion, and an agreement is expected to be reached around the middle of next month.

The fact that the procurement order went to Hyper Stealth Technologies Private Limited shows that the Indian Army is committed to promoting innovation and technological development in defence and aerospace, and it is a big win for the start-up community. It’s a good step towards the government’s goal of Aatmanirbharta and towards promoting stealth technology made in India.

iDEX is run by the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), which is part of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) (DDP). It has become a leader in connecting start-ups and innovators with the right people and has gained a lot of attention in the defence start-up community. At the moment, the Indian Army is working on a total of 48 projects as part of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC), Open Challenges, iDEX4 Fauji, and iDEX PRIME schemes. 41 start-ups are being helped to develop the most cutting-edge solutions to the problems faced by the Indian Army.