On Saturday, April 25, 2026, as reported by the Indian daily The Economic Times, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) unveiled prototypes of next-generation wheeled and tracked combat vehicles based on the Advanced Armoured Platform (AAP), also known as Vikram VT 21.
Photos: DRDO
The presentation took place at the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) laboratory in Ahmednagar, in the eastern part of Maharashtra state, with the participation of Secretary of the Department of Defence Research and Development and DRDO Chairman Dr Samir V. Kamat, as well as Prof Dr Prateek Kishore, DS and DG (ACE); Dr Chandrika Kaushik, DS and DG (PC&SI); Shri Sukaran Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of M/s TASL Pune; Shri Amit Kalyani, Vice-Chairman and Joint Managing Director of M/s BFL Pune; and Shri G. R. M. Rao, OS and Director of VRDE.
The platforms have been developed to meet the emerging operational requirements of the armed forces – India’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement. Both platforms have been integrated with an indigenously designed and developed unmanned turret armed with a 30 mm automatic cannon, equipped with advanced features that meet requirements for mobility, firepower, and protection. Secondary armament consists of a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun coaxial with the cannon and an anti-tank guided missile launcher.
The basic design allows for configuration for multiple roles, including armored personnel carrier and infantry fighting vehicle. The ministry stated that domestic defense industry participation stands at 65%, with plans to increase it to 90%.
“Integrated with high power engine and automatic transmission, these platforms possess a high power to weight ratio, higher speed capabilities, gradient and obstacle negotiating capability, STANAG (a measure of the level of protection) level 4 and 5 protection with modular blast and ballistic protection all around,” the statement said.
The vehicles are amphibious and have an improved water-obstacle crossing capability thanks to the use of water jets, ensuring operational flexibility for the platforms. The ministry stated that prototype production of the platforms was carried out by two industry partners, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Bharat Forge Limited (BFL), supported by numerous small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
DRDO published a video on social media showing tests of the platform chassis themselves:
Achieving a significant milestone, the Advanced Armoured Platform (Wheeled & Tracked) designed by VRDE, DRDO and developed jointly with @tataadvanced & @BharatForgeLtd were flagged off by Dr Samir V Kamat, Secretary DD(R&D) and Chairman DRDO today at VRDE Ahilyanagar in presence… pic.twitter.com/eiLalD1jJr
— DRDO (@DRDO_India) April 25, 2026
Although details are not yet known, it can be noted that the wheeled AAP variant is more modern in design than the Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP), also known as the Tata Kestrel. The tracked variant was designed as a successor to the outdated BMP-2 Sarath.