Abhay (Sanskrit: अभय, "Fearless") was an Infantry Combat Vehicle created under a tech-demonstration program started in India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO.

As its first IFV project, Abhay was designed to provide experience in the construction of AFV components to DRDO, serve as a replacement to India's vast BMP fleet used in its Mechanised Infantry Regiments (changed later on), and serve as a test bed for weapons and systems to be used on future vehicles, as well as to be a reference for the designs of future vehicles.

By 2008, the Abhay program was officially declared successfully completed by DRDO in the Ministry of Defence Annual Report of 2007–2008.

It was mandated to present a perspective till the year 2000, and was required to evaluate national security threats, propose a strategy against them, visualise the future battlefield, determine the size of the army and suggest an incremental build-up of forces.

[6] A part of the report followed-up on the limited mechanisation of the army that had begun in 1969 with the induction of TOPAS and SKOT armoured personnel carriers.

[6] Technological advancements in the field of armoured vehicles would continue after the collapse of the Soviet Union through DRDO.

With the end of the cold war, major changes in the government and liberalization of the Indian economy, India began to focus on self-reliance in all fields.

The Abhay was a part of the program to replace aging armoured vehicles with modern ones that fit into the vision of self-reliance.

This was highlighted in the Gulf War when BMPs under the service of the Iraqi Army were out-ranged, outperformed and destroyed by coalition armored vehicles.

Development suffered delays from 1998 to 1999 due to the sanctions imposed on India by multiple countries in consequence of Pokhran-II nuclear tests conducted that year.

[7] According to Indian Ministry of Defence annual reports released from 2003 to 2008, development of the mild steel hull prototype was completed by 2003, and was being used for testing the automotive systems of the Abhay.

The technologies developed under this programme, such as fire control system, composite armour, hydro-pneumatic suspension and host of other automotive and armament sub-systems can be adopted for futuristic ICV and light tracked vehicle projects.

[1] As of 14 January 2024, DRDO has worked with L&T to develop and test the Zorawar light tank, the first batch of which is to be delivered to the army in April 2024.

[9] The hull on both prototypes housed automotive, armament, and running gear systems as well as the turret basket.

[10] The mild steel prototype used a polygonal shaped turret with sloped armor all around to increase protection by decreasing penetration.

[9] Multiple instruments were indigenously developed by IRDE for the Abhay, including but not limited to:[9] An integrated, stabilized day sight complemented by a thermal imager and laser range finder with a built-in fire control computer.

This thermal monitor uses keys to change settings instead of a touch screen common in modern vehicles.

[9] The Fire Control Computer (FCC) provides ballistic offsets to the gun in azimuth and elevation for different ammunition types based upon the range and environmental conditions.

[9] The Abhay is equipped with multiple weapon systems capable of anti-air and anti-tank combat in urban as well as rural engagements, all controlled by the DRDO-developed FCS.

[9][4] Primary Armament:[11][9] Secondary Armament:[11][9] Equipped with an all-electric FCS and stabilisation of the turret developed in association with private sector industry (possibly BEL), the purpose of the all-electric FCS is to position the 40 mm main gun on the ICV on target with the correct azimuth and elevation, and to provide twin-axis stabilisation to the weapon platform against external disturbances.

It uses state-of-the-art fibre optic gyros as feedback elements to receive input on vehicle speed to apply the correct amount of stabilisation.

[9] The indigenously developed running gear system of the Abhay comprises a double pin, and rubber track with a central horn.