No rethink on Arjun tank said DRDO chief

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) dispelled apprehensions that there was a question mark over the capability of the indigenously manufactured Arjun tank.

Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat dismissed reports that the tank was undergoing yet another series of revaluations vis-À-vis the Russian T-90 main battle tanks.

Dr. Saraswat said that half of the 124 tanks ordered by the Army had already rolled out, and there was no rethink about their induction. The comparative evaluation referred to in media reports was nothing but a trial of the tank’s role in the overall arsenal of the Army. “It is a normal process of identifying the role the tank will play in the plans,” he said.

“Let me make it clear, that these are not evaluation trials of the Arjun tank, as those trials, including in summer and winter months, are over and more than 50 per cent of the tanks have now rolled out of the factory for induction.”

Dr. Saraswat also refuted criticism about the performance of made-in-India INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) rifles. He said there were no niggles in the INSAS rifle, a standard issue to the infantry and the paramilitary forces, and felt the complaints, if any, must be local in nature. The feedback from the Army indicated that the troops were satisfied with the rifle.

He said the integration of avionics and sensors on a Brazilian plane to produce an indigenous “eye-in-the-sky” was proceeding apace. The modifications of the Embraer aircraft to fit the surveillance systems were “in fairly good shape” and the AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) could be ready for tests in two years, he said.

Arjun Tank will be tested against Russian T-90

With the first Arjun tank regiment completing its conversion trials, the Army is readying to test the indigenous MBT's mettle against the proven Russian T-90s in the early half of the year.

"Army is preparing for comparative trials against the Russian T-90s in the early half of this year ... before May," a senior Army officer said on Saturday.

The Army had completed its first regiment's fleet of 40 Arjun MBTs last May when 16 of the Combat Vehicle Research and Development Establishment-built tanks were handed over to it by the Heavy Vehicles Factory in Avadi near Chennai.

However, the Army has placed orders for only 124 Arjuns in all as yet and there have been enough indications that further orders may not come through, as the Army was now looking at a futuristic MBT that could be operational beyond 2020.

It was also felt by the Army's Mechanised Forces circles that Arjuns could serve the Army only for about a decade as the technology and design of the tanks were on the verge of obsolescence already.

Having taken nearly 37 years to have a regiment of the indigenous tanks since the project was approved, the tanks have changed designs from a 40-tonne class vehicle with a 105-mm gun at the conception stage to 50-tonne vehicle with a 201-mm gun during production.

"For such a delay and design changes, Arjun tanks have proved to be a worthy combat vehicle for Indian deserts during the conversion trials and a third-party audit," the officer said.

The Arjun project was approved in 1972 and the first prototype of the tanks was readied in 1982 and publicly displayed in 1995.

However, during its development stages, several structural and design flaws were identified by the DRDO and the Army that were later rectified.

Now that the Army had got delivery of the first 40 tanks to complete its first of the three regiments that would operate Arjuns, the indigenous MBT is likely to be put through comparative summer trials against the 45-tonne T-90s between March and May this year.

Meant to come as replacements for the aging T-72 MBTs of Russian origin, the mainstay of Indian combat vehicle fleet since the 1980s, the delay in Arjun's production made India go in for T-90s from Russia

First, an order for 310 T-90s was placed with Russia and it was followed up with 330-tank order in 2006. Again, in 2007, another order for 1,000 tanks was placed.

While the first 310 were bought directly from Russia, the rest of the orders were for licensed production of the tanks within India.

The licensing issues were only sorted as recently as last year, with Russia agreeing to provide all technical knowhow to India for indigenous production of the tank.

In all, India would have about 35 regiments of T-90s in its armoured fleet by 2020.


sorce:Zee

India likely to supply 50 phased out Ajeya T-72 tanks to Nepal

India, which has decided to resume military aid to Nepal, is likely to supply 50 phased-out tanks at discounted rates.India´s The Telegraph newspaper reported the deal, quoting an unnamed senior Defense Ministry official in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The report said Nepal has specifically asked whether it can acquire 50 tanks from the Indian Army at discounted rates. These are Ajeya T-72 tanks that are being replaced with the Bhishma T-90 in the armored regiments.


Besides the tanks, officer cadets from Nepal will get more seats in the Indian Military Academy and the recruitment of Nepalese Gorkhas in the Indian Army would be increased.The decisions followed talks, Nepal’s visiting army chief, General Chhatraman Singh Gurung, held with Indian security officials in the Indian capital.

On recruitment of more Nepali nationals to the Indian Army, the southern neighbor has proposed to raise an additional battalion that will increase the recruitment from Nepal from the current level of about 1,600 soldiers a year.There are seven Gorkha Rifles regiments in the Indian Army, each with five or six battalions of about 900 soldiers. Gorkhas from Nepal and India are recruited not only in these battalions but also in other regiments such as the special forces (parachute battalions), the newspaper said.

Nepal Army has also enquired whether India can raise the supply of military hardware to the level prevalent nine years back. In 2005, India scaled down its military aid, following the February 1 coup by the then king Gyanendra. But the actual reduction in military assistance had begun in 2001, with the Maoist insurgency intensifying in Nepal.

General Gurung, an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehra Dun who attended the passing-out parade of officer cadets on Saturday, also held talks with the Indian Army’s director-general of military training. He said it was his wish to set up an institution like the IMA in Nepal.

At the academy, Gurung visited the room where he had stayed as a cadet. He also spent time in its archives searching for a photograph of himself with the late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, whom he described as his hero.

Gurung was honored with the rank of General in the Indian Army by the President on Monday. He is slated to meet the external affairs minister, the foreign secretary and national security adviser on Wednesday.Gurung’s visit comes close on the heels of an India-Nepal defence cooperation committee meeting in Kathmandu last week.

The Indian Army, the paper said, looks at the demand of the Maoists for “integration” of their PLA troops in the Nepal Army ranks — under the country’s peace accord — with "suspicion".The delegations of the two armies have exchanged notes on security, with the Nepalese team of the view that the Maoists can present a military challenge yet again.

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