India’s efforts to update its tank force have been stymied, especially regarding the development of its native Arjun tank.
Despite its superior armament, the Arjun has been plagued by technical issues that have rendered most of the fleet unusable. India, therefore, had little choice but to maintain serviceability with the aging fleet of Soviet-technology T-seventy-two tanks and foreign Russian T-90 tanks.
The current Ukrainian War brings the spotlight onto main battle tanks, and the extreme reliance of both Russia and Ukraine on them has made international locations around the world reevaluate armored capabilities.
For India with a fleet of close to 2,000 Soviet T-72 tanks, it is no different.
“For over five decades, India has struggled to create its own domestic MBT, the Arjun,” noted Maya Carlin. Logistical issues and design flaws have also kept the Arjun at the receiving end of extreme technical issues, making over three-quarters of that equipment inoperable.
The Arjun is a 3rd generation main war tank developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The missiles it has in inventory include a 120mm rifled important gun, a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, and a 12.7mm machine gun.
It is fitted with a single MTU multi-gasoline diesel engine, which provides up to 1 hundred horsepower. Unfortunately, the tank’s development was affected by delays and technical flaws, which led to an import of around 25-30 percent of its parts.
In 2009, the Arjun was accepted ready for production, and the Indian Army ordered 124 devices. However, in less than six years, nearly 75 percent of the Arjun tanks were inactivated due to technical reasons. This reverse led India to buy hundreds of Russian-made T-ninety tanks.
In the mild of those demanding situations, Russia is now pitching its T-14 Armata important warfare tank to India.
Vladimir Drozhzhov, deputy director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said that Russia is ready to share T-14 MBT technology with India’s next-generation MBT project.
Drozhzhov additionally mentioned that India plans to announce an international soft for its next-generation MBT project, with its tactical and technical characteristics to be decided inside the tender.
The T-14 Armata is much larger than any tank designs Russia has ever produced using Soviet technology, and it is armed with a one hundred twenty-five-mm smoothbore autoloading main gun, a 12.7 mm coaxial system gun, and a 7. Sixty-two mm system gun mounted on a faraway-manipulate weapon station. It also comes standard with a three-tiered protection scheme of radar-absorbing paint, the optional Nakidka infrared-dampening cover, Afganit APS with hard and tender-kill systems, and Malakhit explosive reactive armor.
But the T-14 itself has some issues. Forces.Net reports that deployed Russian forces were not eager to receive the tanks due to their “terrible situation,” which comprises problems inside the T-14’s engine and thermal imaging systems.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu described a 2022 production run of the T-14 as an “experimental-business” lot, a term that indicated the tanks wouldn’t be up to standard levels and therefore wouldn’t be approved to be considered operational.
India aims to use its 40-year-old T-72s and upgraded T-90 derivatives through its application for the Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV).
It will also seek a substitute for its Arjun tank. The program shall induct 1, seven hundred systems by 2030 with increased survivability towards uneven threats, an active safety device, and better intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.
India has also made document requests to several MBT manufacturers that include the Leclerc of France, K1 from South Korea, the M1AX Abrams from the US, Leopard 2 of Germany, T-eighty four Oplot of Ukraine, Ariete of Italy, M-84 of Serbia, Merkava of Israel, the UK for the Challenger 2, and Turkey for the Altay.