By Vishnu Makhijani, IANS
New Delhi : The Indian Army has contracted to buy 124 indigenous Arjun main battle tanks (MBTs) but might not go beyond that figure as it is seemingly unimpressed with the tank’s capabilities.
“We are currently re-evaluating the Arjun but will have to wait for the summer trials (in May-June) to find out if the defects we had pointed out have truly been rectified,” a senior army officer said.
“In any case, even if the defects are removed, the army is unlikely to go beyond the figure of 124 that it has initially contracted to purchase,” the officer told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Fourteen Arjun tanks had been handed over to the Indian Army for user trials last year but were returned to the manufacturer – the Combat Vehicles Development Establishment – with a list of defects that have now apparently been ironed out.
These include a deficient fire control system, inaccuracy of its guns, low speeds in tactical areas – principally the deserts – and the tank’s inability to operate in temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius.
Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor and his predecessor, General J.J. Singh have on separate occasions expressed their unhappiness with the tank, which has been 35 years in the making.
“What we have today is mid-level technology. What we need is a tank of international quality,” Kapoor said last month.
“I have no doubt that the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) will be able to develop indigenous capabilities for coming up with a better answer and more versatile armoured fighting vehicle (than Arjun) in the future,” he added while speaking at the inaugural session of an international seminar on Armoured Fighting Vehicles here.
Kapoor had also urged synergy between scientists, users and producers to ensure the delivery of a cutting-edge-technology tank.
“The scientists cannot work in isolation. The users (the army) should be with them. So also should the producers, be they public sector undertakings or private players. Only then will we see an indigenous armoured fighting vehicle of international quality,” the army chief maintained.
Singh had spoken in much the same vein during a major Indian Army exercise in the deserts of Rajasthan in April-May.
“We have to make sure the troops are not exposed to any disadvantage,” Singh replied cryptically when asked about Arjun’s performance during the five-day Exercise Ashwamedh, during which a squadron of 14 Arjun tanks was deployed.
The Indian Army laid down its qualitative requirement (QR) for the Arjun in 1972. In 1982, the DRDO announced that the prototype was ready for field trials. However, the tank was publicly unveiled for the first time only in 1995.
Arjun was originally meant to be a 40-tonne tank with a 105 mm gun. It has now grown to a 50-tonne tank with a 120 mm gun.
The tank was meant to supplement and eventually replace the Soviet-era T-72 MBT that was first inducted in the early 1980s.
However, delays in the Arjun project, and Pakistan’s decision to purchase the T-80 from Ukraine, prompted India to order 310 T-90s, an upgraded version of the T-72, in 2001.
Of these, 186 were built at the Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi in Tamil Nadu. An agreement was also signed for the licensed production of another 1,000 T-90s.
With the Arjun development delayed further, India last year signed a fresh contract with Russia to buy another 330 T-90s.