Zarvan
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Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is in the process of developing a futuristic battle tank called Future Main Battle Tank (FMBT) with the latest technologies that would trace an incoming missile from an enemy and retaliate with its own missiles combining passive and active protection systems.
Though the Arjun MBT faced teething problems during its evolution as a credible battle platform, the DRDO was able to fix all issues by incorporating several sate-of-the-art technologies which improved its readiness rate. The Mk1 during its protracted competitive trails outran and out gunned the T-90 (14 of each tanks were used) on several parameters. In 2013 even a Chinese military websiteMil.news.sina.com.cn rated Arjun as one of the 10 best tanks in the world. The Mk2 weighs less than 50 tons and has 93 improvements over the Mk1, and includes nearly 60 percent indigenous components. The experience gained from Mk1 has been fully utilized resulting in a more capable Mk2.
Having eventually tasted success with the Arjun Mk2 Main Battle Tank (MBT) with its rather harried acceptance by the army, CVRDE has embarked on a mission to develop a FMBT that would come with active protection system to safeguard the tank from Fin Stabilized Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (FSAPDS) ammunition, the most lethal kinetic energy ammunition, capable of destroying all known tank armor FSAPDS travels at a speed of over 1,700 meters per second and no country in the world has developed technology to protect their tanks from such a lethal kinetic energy force. The indigenous Kanchan armor used in Mk1 has been able to take the brunt of high precision and deadly Israeli anti tank munitions during tests.
Israel, Russia, Germany and Sweden have developed technology for ammunition that travels at 1,000 metres per second and India will be the first country to work on kinetic energy threats.
CVRDE has already incorporated soft-kill technology (passive protection) in India's Arjun Mk2 MBT, which means that if the enemy fires a missile using an infrared weapon, soft-kill passive technology in Arjun Mk2 would jam the infrared rays thus eliminating the enemy projectile from destroying the asset.
Secondly, if the enemy fires a laser guided missile or a beam rider missile (BRM), in such cases the futuristic MBT will have laser sensors, which will identify whether it is fired from laser guided machine or BRM. The active protection system would launch grenades, which will generate smoke. By this process, the MBT remains hidden and the tank would retaliate at the enemy by launching its own missiles. The new tank configuration will combine both Active & Passive protection system. It is learnt that both these technologies have since been realized by DRDO.
Thus, Arjun's development marks the fruition of 35 years of research in self-reliance by dedicated Indian scientists against all odds. Today, Arjun Mk2 is provided with excellent mobility, superior fire power, nearly impregnable armor protection and its overall features are comparable to best of contemporary world tanks. The Kanchan armor, hydro-pneumatic suspension, armament system, integrated fire detection & suppression system, composite engineering and system integration of complex weapon platforms are some of the significant indigenous technologies developed by DRDO.
It should be noted that the government has already allocated funds to the DRDO for the development of the FMBT.
Admin - IDN
Indian Defence News: IDN TAKE: CVRDE's Future Main Battle Tank