Defense Technology International - April 2008 - (Page 23) STOCK OPTIONS India to add Russian tanks while designing its own ANDY NATIVI•NEW DELHI I ndia’s e orts to modernize its huge armored corps rely on the Russian T-90S main battle tank for now, but plans are underway to launch an indigenous program despite previous failures. The New Delhi-based Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is working on concepts for a model tentatively known as the Future Main Battle Tank (FMBT) 2020, even though its in-service date is 2025. India will likely seek a major foreign partner for assistance in technology development, industrialization and project management. According to sources in New Delhi, the FMBT 2020 program will probably deliver the first batch of six prototypes, each 40 tons and armed with a 125-mm. main gun, by 2015. Several features are proposed for the tank, including turretless design, automation, an active protection system and network-centric connectivity. For the time being, however, the army plans to acquire customized T-90s with, for example, Thales-supplied Catherine thermal imaging sights. India’s first T-90 order, worth around $800 million, dates to February 2001, when it scrambled to find a modern tank to face the KMDB (Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau)-built T-80UD, which Pakistan was acquiring from Ukraine. An initial 310 tanks were delivered and are in service with six regiments. A $1.2-billion follow-on contract for 347 T-90s was signed in November 2007 and the first kits, assembled at the Ordnance Factory Board in Avadi, Tamil Nadu, will soon be delivered. India plans to produce as many as 1,000 more T-90s. The first five T-90 tanks are slated for delivery this year, followed by 50 in 2009 and 100 per year afterward. Some technology issues remain to be resolved, as Russia is unwilling to transfer the core technology for armor and main-gun barEX prototype main battle tank combines an upgraded Arjun turret on a T-72M1 chassis. rel manufacturing. Technology transfer is a strategic goal for India, which seeks to be less reliant on foreign suppliers for design and manufacturing (see related article, p. 46). In any case, the T-90, locally called Bishima, will not satisfy the army’s requirement for up to 3,800 new main battle tanks. The old T-55 and Vijayanta (Indian-built Vickers main battle tank) models in use by two regiments need to be replaced, along with first-generation T-72 Ajeya tanks. The more recent T-72M1 is to receive a long-awaited upgrade, which may involve a fire-control system, armor improvements and a 1,000-hp. V92S2 engine, which powers the T-90S. The DRDO also proposes to introduce a new anti-tank round. The army has around 35 T-72 regiments. India’s plans for a locally designed and produced tank are being made ANDY NATIVI/DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL despite failures of the indigenous Arjun program. Launched in the 1970s, the first prototype didn’t appear until 1984. The project has yet to deliver a main battle tank that meets operational requirements, even though 124 have been ordered. Production is unlikely to go beyond this amount. Ironically, India’s local production of the T-72 began in the mid-1980s after delays in the Arjun program, and the T-90 followed 20 years later because the Arjun still wasn’t ready. Rheinmetall has been called in to help fix problems on the Arjun production line. The 55-ton tank is equipped with a German-supplied MTU engine, Renk transmission and Diehl tracks. To keep the production line running and to recover some of the investment, the DRDO wants to use the Arjun chassis for specialized vehicles and a self-propelled gun. It is also installing an improved Arjun turret and new-generation Kanchan composite armor on the chassis of the locally produced T-72M1. The result is a 47-ton medium tank called EX (experimental tank), prototypes of which are being evaluated. Russia is trying to maintain its grip on the Indian tank market, for example, by o ering India a say in development of the next-generation T-95 and sales of the heavy BMP-T combat vehicle (DTI March, p. 23). I AviationWeek.com/dti APRIL 2008 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 23 http://AviationWeek.com/dti
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