It wasn't impossible to develop a version of WhAP that meets all those requirements. If we can come up with a design for a LT (which is much more complicated than a recce vehicle) in 2 years, a modified version of WhAP isn't hard to come up with. Not to mention we now have multiple production agencies willing to prototype different features (Tata, Mahindra, L&T, Kalyani) at the same time.
I doubt air mobility via C130J was a factor. We don't have enough of them & the few we have will likely be busy supporting SOF insertion behind enemy lines. Dropping a couple Strykers behind the...