Arjun
T-90
Posted on 05/27/2009 11:19:03 PM PDT by pobeda1945
The Defence Research and Development Organisation handed sixteen tanks (cumulative 45 Arjun tanks) to Lt. Gen. D. Bhardwaj, Director General Mechanised Force (DGMF), for formation of the first Arjun regiment at a function in Avadi today.
"The regiment of 45 tanks will be subjected to a conversion training and field practice for a period of three months. Thereafter, the Army is planning to conduct a comparative trial with T 90 tanks in October or November 2009 to assess the operational deployment role of the tanks. The present batch of 124 tanks will be delivered by March 2010," a Defence Ministry official told ANI.
The trials could deliver the final verdict on the combat vehicle, which took 35 years of research in self-reliance by dedicated Indian scientists against all odds, costing over Rs. 300 crore.
The DRDO has been demanding for the comparative trials of Arjun with T-90 tanks, which is being seen as an effort to meet criticism against the indigenous combat vehicle. Around 500 tanks would need to be manufactured to make the project successful.
The Army has made it clear that it will buy no more than the 124 Arjuns tanks that it has contracted for because it is unhappy with the tank on various counts.
"The Army cleared the acquisition of Arjun tanks after it carried out the Accelerated Usage Cum Reliability Trials (AUCRT) in five phases on two tanks from November 2007 to August 2008 covering more than 8000 km and 800 rounds of firing in each tank," the official said.
AUCRT is required for assessing the spares requirement for the entire life of the tank besides evaluation of reliability of tank.
The DRDO's Avadi-based Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) will manufacture a total of 124 Arjun MBTs at a cost of Rs. 1,760 crores. Of the total 124, CVRDE had already delivered 29 MBTs in two instalments till March this year.
Arjun tank was meant to supplement and eventually replace the Soviet-era T-72 MBT and 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.
Arjun tanks can fire at a range of 3-4 km and have great mobility and are equipped with high protection facility.
Arjun
T-90
Any info on what the army found wanting in this particular MBT?
I do think it a good thing that India is moving toward self supply in military equipment.
T-90 & Arjun Tank Ping!
http://frontierindia.net/dissimilar-combat-arjun-mbt-vs-t-90s-specs
June 2007 will see the Indian Army pitching Arjun MBT against T-90S and T-72 for a dissimilar combat. Whatever the reason for the exercise, Indian Army is on record stating that, the Arjun MBT production will be decided by outcome of this event. Frontier India Defence and Strategic News Service (FIDSNS) have collated the features of Arjun MBT and T-90S for the reader’s judgment of the capabilities of the tank. T-72 M1 specifications have not been added as T-90S is an advanced version of T-72 M1 which Indian Army operates. The two tanks have similar features in most of the mobility features and T-90S has add-on enhancements in terms of firepower and protection.
General Characteristics of MBT Arjun and T-90S
Battle tank design is an optimization of the three basic characteristics viz. firepower, mobility and protection. All tanks are designed in accordance with the war doctrine of the country and to ensure operation over a range of environmental conditions. Arjun MBT is a state of art tank, developed to suite specific needs of Indian Army. Arjun MBT is on par with contemporary tanks in its class like M1 Abrams, Leopard 2, Leclerc and Challenger II. T-90S is a lighter tank and does not fall in the class of Arjun MBT. T-90S is designed in accordance to specifications of the Russian Army and Russian cold climate. Both Arjun MBT and T-90S can be transported to Indian border areas by rail throughout the National Broad Gauge network.
Mobility performance
Arjun MBT’s Hydro Pneumatic Suspension system provides a stable weapon platform which enhances the fire on move capability and excellent riding comfort during cross country move. The Indian borders in north and west are very rugged. Arjun MBT has less Nominal Ground Pressure (NGP) compared to T-90S. Arjun MBT has better acceleration and maximum road speed due to high peak torque output of the engine coupled with fully automatic transmission not withstanding “slightly” lower power to weight ratio. Automatic transmission provides neutral turn capability which adds to the maneuverability during shoot and scoot. Arjun MBT features Auxiliary Power Units (APU) which T-90S does not have. APU’s provide continuous operation in silent watch mode. It also saves main engine life. Rubberized double pin tracks provide increased life, reduced track noise and better maintainability. Arjun MBT’s mission reliability has been proved with 500 kms being covered in 48 hours. Arjun MBT successfully crossed the RAVI River at Lassian without support systems due to lower ground pressure. Trench crossing capability of Arjun MBT is on par with T-90S as Arjun MBT has seven bogie stations compared to six bogie stations of T-90S.
Fire Power Performance
Firing performance of Arjun MBT is superior to T-90S in terms of accuracy (both static and dynamic situations) due to gun ammunition combination and high order of weapon stabilization coupled with auto collimated MRS. Auto collimated MRS compensates for the barrel bend. Firing performance of Arjun MBT and T-90S is same in terms of defeat capability and rate of firing. Two axis stabilized commander’s panoramic sight integrated with gunners main sight provides “hunter killer” capability both in static as dynamic mode (moving to moving mode). Higher order of stabilization accuracy enables accurate fire on the move at a moving target while maintaining the stipulated fire rate. The commander of Arjun MBT can engage targets in case of emergency, capable of firing at various slopes and tilt angles. First round hits probability has been demonstrated for MBT Arjun on a 1 mil target and greater than 60% hit percentage when firing from a moving Arjun tank to a moving target, both at 25 km/h.
LAHAT (semi automatic homing) Missile firing from Arjun MBT has been already demonstrated using a stand alone Laser Target Designator (LTD). This designator can be integrated into Gunner’s Main Sight (GMS). T-90S can fire Laser bean riding missile..
Arjun MBT armament system including gun barrel has been proved to be robust and reliable No case of barrel burst was reported even after firing 10000 rounds. The Arjun MBT prototypes and pre production tanks fired more than 100 rounds from the same barrel in a day. Life of barrel of Arjun MBT is twice that of T-90S, estimate equivalent in Effective Full Charge (EFC) of 500.
Protection Performance
Protection of MBT Arjun against FSAPDS and HESH ammunitions has been demonstrated. In January 2000 at Proof & Experimental Establishment (PXE), Balasore, Arjun tank armor defeated all available HESH and FSAPDS rounds including Israeli FSAPDS rounds. ERA is effective only against HEAT ammunition and not FSAPDS which is the primary threat to a battle tank. Arjun Tank has ERA protection as add on feature, while T-90S has it as a regular feature. A tank with ERA has a weight penalty.
Outcome
Indian Army has not expressed the purpose of this exercise. It can be various reasons like a genuine requirement of validating its GSQR which resulted in creation of a heavy tank or the Indian Army internal rivalry or the pressure from the import lobby to kill the indigenous Arjun MBT project. It will be the test of Indian Army’s own integrity as Arjun MBT was made as per the Indian Army General Staff Qualitative Requirement (GSQR), tested by Indian Army and approved for production by Indian Army.
P. Chacko Joseph
Copyrights : Frontier India Defence and Strategic News Service.
I don’t know all the details, but I do remember reading there were overheating issues. IIRC, many of the tank’s electronic systems malfunctioned when the tank operated in extremely hot environments, such as in the Thar desert (which covers a large part of the border with Pakistan, btw).
I thought the Challenger 2 or Leopard 2 could handle a T-90 with relative ease. Am I wrong?
So, is the Arjun mean or myth?
That’s a problem worth worrying about.
No slope on the turrent armor? I’m not that knowledgable about tanks, why would they present a flat target?
Your main threat is no longer cannon rounds. It’s missiles. That slope looks really inviting to anything coming from above the tank.
So modern top attack missiles use the angled turrent to frame their descent?
Hmm, the Arjun looks like the superior tank.
But you have to admit it has a gayer paint job.
Oof! The T90 has ‘tough rubber’ external fuel tank protection. That would give me an uncomfortableness if I was driving it into a Jihad zone.
The T-90 is a souped up T-72 (it was planned to be final subvariant with the 72 designation). It still has most of the original tanks weaknesses though improved active and passive protection.
LOL, yeah, but that would be the standard camo paintjob for the terrain in the dry areas of southern portion of the India-Pakistan border.
Here's another Arjun, for the Thar Desert region:
All your questions will be answered if you take one look at the Indian army’s armoured inventory-it’s been almost all T-72 since the early 80s. In other words, training, logistics and pretty much everything else is based on having a three-man, 125 mm smoothbore gun on a thin skinned tank that can be transported on India’s rail network and even the IL-76 airlifter.
The Arjun, on the other hand is more in the Western mode-it was developed using German help and is being updated with the Israelis-its about 55 tonnes, 4 man crew and 120 mm rifled bore gun.In other words, you need a whole new logistics system for it. The army, not surprisingly doesn’t want it because it would have to reorient everything. The Arjun has had its issues including overheating and firecontrol issues-which tank hasn’t??? Anyway the T-90 is no better and it had severe issues with its electronics in the Thar.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2259719/posts
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