Posted on 12/31/2018 7:38:52 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
At a time when the modernisation of the Indian Army's armoured corps is moving at a "snail's pace", Pakistan has drawn up a mega plan to procure nearly 600 modern main battle tanks, including the T-90 from Russia, primarily to bolster its combat prowess along the Line of Actual Control in Jammu and Kashmir, military and intelligence sources said on Sunday. The T-90 is also operated by the Indian Army.
Most of the tanks Pakistan was planning to procure were likely to have features like state-of-the-art computerised fire control system for increased accuracy, and they would be able to hit targets within a range of 3 to 4km, sources told PTI.
Some of the tanks are set to be deployed along the Line of Control and they will have wider features for battlefield effectiveness, they added.
Apart from the battle tanks, the Pakistan Army is also procuring 245 150mm SP Mike-10 guns from Italy. It has already received 120 such guns.
The intelligence sources said Pakistan was eyeing a batch of Russian T-90 battle tanks—the mainstay of the armoured regiments of the Indian Army—and that the move reflects Islamabad's intent to forge a deeper defence engagement with Moscow, which has been India's largest defence supplier for decades.
Pakistan has been holding joint military drills with Russia in the last couple of years besides eyeing to purchase Russian platforms, triggering some concern in New Delhi.
The sources said as part of the ambitious plan to significantly revamp its armoured fleet by 2025, Pakistan has decided to procure at least 360 main battle tanks from leading global manufacturers and produce 220 tanks indigenously with help from China.
"That's a nice warm-water port you have there..."
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