Defence PSU making headway in developing indigenous top-end military gear

Guwahati: Troop Comforts Ltd (TCL), a defence PSU, has received a request for proposal (RFP) for a number of its indigenously developed military gear while several of its products are in the field trial stage.

Among the products being developed by the company are boots and crampons, ice pitons, hammer pitons, sleeping bags and multi-purpose bags, besides clothing items.

The RFPs have been received from the Northern Command of the Indian Army, while field trials are going under the Eastern Command, its officials said.

TCL was carved out of the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board and commenced functioning under its present format in October 2021.

“We are working on indigenously developing specialised gear needed for our personnel posted in difficult terrain, from mountainous regions to extremely cold conditions,” Ranveer Singh, junior works manager, told PTI.

“We had been importing most of these gear entirely or at least major components of them. Now, we are working on developing the products with our own technology,” he said.

The Kanpur-headquartered TCL was here to participate in the recently-concluded ‘East Tech 2023’, a defence expo in which nearly 200 manufacturers had put up their stalls displaying cutting-edge technology to top-end gear.

“We have been producing several items, and we are now improving them further to ensure that our personnel get the best equipment. For example, earlier we had the standard military bags to carry all equipment by any personnel. We have improved on the design in terms of utility as well as looks now,” Pervez Badar, another junior works manager at TCL, said, showing a redesigned bag.

Similar innovation has also been made to sleeping bags to make them more easily foldable and cosier, Badar added.

Singh said several products of TCL are in the field trial stage under the Eastern Command, with most of these items dealing with clothing, climbing and allied gears.

“We had also participated in the expo under the Northern Command recently and 21 samples were submitted. We have received RFPs for several of our products,” he added.

“Once our items are back from the field trials and we have incorporated the feedback, we are confident of manufacturing some of the best defence gear globally. It will ensure that we are not dependent on foreign technology for our military needs and also save important foreign exchange,” the TCL official added.

The TCL has four manufacturing units located across the country and besides catering to the requirements of the defence personnel, including those in the Ministry of Home Affairs forces, it also supplies to the police of various states.

Its range of products includes clothing items, accessories and technologically advanced products to equip personnel serving in environmental conditions from -50 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius - from glaciers to deserts.