The high degree of ceasefire violations on the line of control (LoC) has heightened awareness of slow progress in infantry modernisation in the country. The Army's Infantry Directorate has called for a meeting to speed up the F-INSAS programme to provide infantry units with more integrated battlefield equipment. Tensions on the LoC have seen the use of hand-held thermal imagers and other equipment, but the Infantry Directorate of the view that far greater pace of modernisation is desirable towards a much more prepared soldier deployed in the forward areas.

According to sources, apart from primary weapon and survivability modernisation, the Infantry Directorate is keen to shore up situational awareness and night-fighting equipment augmentation for soldiers, starting with those in Rashtriya Rifles and Special Forces units, and then to other regular infantry units. The coming weeks are likely to see a slew of fresh expressions of interest pertaining to the F-INSAS programme.