Arjun Tank Disaster Part I: History

[jawadqamar]

Arjun Tank Disaster Part I: History

After the war of 1971 ended, the Indian army realized the limitations of their tank fleet in the unforgiving desert conditions of Rajasthan, so they initiated their own indigenous MBT design. In 1972 Indian army put together requirements for a new main battle tank that will enter service in India's army....

Twenty six years later the end product strongly resembles the Leopard II, though its development process was plagued with delays and its future is in doubt. Based on 1971 battlefield experiences, the MBT-80 was to have a locally-designed, rifled 120mm main gun, a diesel power plant because Indians considered the turbine engines as fuel guzzlers and a computerized fire control system with a laser range finder. One of the early 'Chetek' prototypes was unveiled to the public on Indian Republic Day, 26 January 1984. ....

At the time, Arjun had a German MTU-based 1400 HP diesel (until a home-grown one was ready), with a weight of 52 tones much higher than the sketch concepts which were around 40-45 tons and a price tag of US $1.6 million (2 crore rupees, to total 15.5 crore for the whole project). The locally-developed engine, which the Indians hoped to produce 1300-1500 HP from, only delivered 500HP.........

Meanwhile, Arjun development costs continued to increase, from October 1980 Rs. 56.55 crores to Rs 280 crores in May, 1987. The DRDO conducted the first technical trials in 1988. Indian Defence Minister Sharad Pawar on October 1991said that there were 12 prototypes Arjun MBT's 'in an advanced stage of development. General B.C. Joshi, the former Army Chief (now deceased), foresaw two Armoured Regiments of 45 Arjuns apiece, but insisted that 10 imperatives be met in 1994 before the tank could be accepted by the Army...



The Pakistani deal with the Ukraine to purchase T-80UD/T-84's announced in the fall of 1995 caused another flurry of activity in the Indian military community .....
ASIAN DEFENCE

 

[shchinese]

with the scheduled introduction of our Type-99A2 this Oct. I have to ask myself why indians just refuse to acknowledge the failure of arjun and learn more about designing tanks from Chinese.

 

[AK-47]

This artical has no credibility. Its by some guy sitting in his basement writing his blog. This artical could of had some degree of credential if it was on the leading news paper or well respected defence related megazine. (eg. jane's defence)

 

[rajk20002002]

with the scheduled introduction of our Type-99A2 this Oct. I have to ask myself why indians just refuse to acknowledge the failure of arjun and learn more about designing tanks from Chinese.

Smiles smiles smiles...

Chinese Propaganda machines are more powerful than tanks.. and can fire in all directions.

Armor: Chinese Type 99A2 Arrives

Why shouldn't India go directly to Russians....

RK

 

[AliFarooq]

This artical has no credibility. Its by some guy sitting in his basement writing his blog. This artical could of had some degree of credential if it was on the leading news paper or well respected defence related megazine. (eg. jane's defence)

true but, this article has facts in it...

 

[AK-47]

true but, this article has facts in it...

It has SOME facts.

 

[spsk]

Its well known,Arjun project is a major failure for DRDO.Arjn not going to be the MBT for India and has already decided to import from russia. Not only Arjun its proposed next version Tank-Ex also not impressive to Indian military.

I guess Arjn not going to be MBT for India.

 

[Jihad]

C'mon guys, save the Arjun jokes for future debates or for shits and giggles with our Indian friends.
Don't over-use it, or else it won't be funny in the future and it'll become "old".

 

[spsk]

there is nothing to joke...India tried to make a tank which could be used as MBT . With fair trial from Army it was rejected. Actually this is healthy for a country than being forced to induct something which is useless.

One last thing India produces Russian T72 in homeland and in talks for licensed production of T90.You do not need much brain for licensed production.

 

[jawadqamar]

there is nothing to joke...India tried to make a tank which could be used as MBT . With fair trial from Army it was rejected. Actually this is healthy for a country than being forced to induct something which is useless.

One last thing India produces Russian T72 in homeland and in talks for licensed production of T90.You do not need much brain for licensed production.

Arjun Tank Disaster Part II: Development years and Arjun’s first fight

Scientific Adviser to the Defense Minister, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the Indians consider the Arjun comparable to the M1A2 Abrams, Leopard 2 and Leclerc. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Shankar Roy chowdhury pointed out that while some of the tank's parameters needed to be 'further fine-tuned'.. :LOLANI:


Arjun’s first fight
Apparently, some problems were identified since the Arjun design profile was frozen again in July 1996, which would have allowed production to commence when funding became available. However, some design elements fell far short of army specifications .............The 15 Pre-Production Series (PPS) tanks were supposed to be supplied to three armoured regiments for testing in 1996, but it wasn't until 27 August that the Defence Production and Supplies Secretary ordered them from the Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi. Indian media estimate placed the project cost at US $ 112 million or 400 million Rupees. ...[/b]

In addition to unspecified but numerous technical modifications to its fire and gun control systems (the Commanders Periscopic Sight, the Laser Warning Sight and the Muzzle Reference Sight have been found 'unreliable'), the fire control system in particular has been found unable to perform in temperatures above 42 degrees Celsius. The DRDO has been comptemplating scraping the current Arjun FCS in favour of whatever is accepted for the T-72M1 upgrade programme.Since the Arjun extends 6cm beyond the official 3cm limit on either side of a standard Indian flatbed railcar, strategic transport would be extremely difficult. This would also require that India refurbish large sections of her rail network, as well as acquiring new rolling stock (This is nothing new, as the Germans had this problem with the ÔTiger' Mk VI in World War II). It's width and weight, Indian Rail to charge the Army over-dimensional consignment (ODC) costs, which are 150% over normal costs. The Indian Ministry of Defence allocated US$ 3.9 million (R165 million) to develop three Arjun-capable flatbed rail cars wagon by January 1999,,


The German MTU MB 838 Ka-SOl 1 ,4OOhp diesel engine and transmission derated at high temperatures, with an estimated 20-25% powerloss from engine to drive sprocket while operating in desert temperatures of 45-500 Celcius.


The production of 100 Arjun Mk.1 MBTs was expected to start by late 1997 (during the Ninth Defence Plan) at an estimated cost of US$ 2.8 million [Rs. 10 crores] each, though the Army feels that the 100-tank lot might take more than five years, given the capacity at the Avadi Heavy Vehicles Factory near Chennai and its commitments to various sectors of the armed forces. The first production tank was promised by 1985.A later claim by DRDO stated that it needed up to (Rs 1,800 crores) to produce 120 tanks over the next five years, with each one costing US $ 4.2 million [Rs 15 crores] (about a 2,000 % increase in project cost since 1974).Another cost estimate figured that the Arjun will be over Rs 26 billion by 2001 for two or three regiments (124 tanks), totalling around US $5.6 million (Rs 200 million) per tank.


Arjun Tank Disaster Part II: Development years and Arjun’s first fight

 

[spsk]

Army orders 300 new T-90 tanks

Indian army has plalced orders for T90 MBT and planning for licenced production of 1000+ T90.So less hope for Arjun.T90 will be the MBT for next decade.DRDO might come up with pans for new tank to be inducted after 2020.

But Arjun could be technology demonstrator for future tanks.

 

[jawadqamar]

ASIAN DEFENCE: Arjun Tank Disaster Part III: Present situation

In mid-November, DRDO chief A.P.J. Abdul Kalam told to a closed-door meeting of his ministry's Parliamentary Consultative Committee that the Arjun had been tested for 20,000 km and cleared for 'limited series production'. But before a crowd at the National Defence Academy in early December, the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ved Prakash Malik denied that Arjun's induction into the army was being delayed and added that some unspecified tests and improvements had to be carried out before the army could accept them...

The Army had cleared the MBT Arjun for production and placed an indent on March 30, 2000 for the manufacture of 124 tanks by 2009 for two regiments. The present cost of the MBT Arjun is Rs.16.80 crore and the cost of T-90 is around Rs.12.00 crore. ...



Fourteen Arjun tanks were handed over to the Indian Army for user trials last year but were returned to the manufacturer - the Combat Vehicles Development Establishment - with a list of defects. These included a deficient fire control system, inaccuracy of its guns, low speeds in tactical areas - principally the desert - and the tank’s inability to operate in temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius. “The Arjun can, at best serve us for another five or maximum 10 years. What we need is a tank that can serve us for the next 20 to 25 years,” an officer said. “I’m not saying it is a bad tank. It’s just not suited for our requirements. We need a futuristic tank that is at par with those available around the world, we will purchase the 124 tanks we have contracted for but no more beyond that,” the officer added.............



Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor and his predecessor, General J.J. Singh, had on separate occasions expressed their unhappiness with the tank. “What we have today is a mid-level technology. What we need is a tank of international quality,” Kapoor said last November. Singh had spoken in much in the same vein during a major exercise in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert in April-May, 2007. “We have to make sure the troops are not exposed to any disadvantage,” Singh replied cryptically when asked about Arjun’s performance during the five-day Exercise ‘Ashwamedh’ for which a squadron of 14 Arjun tanks was deployed. The defence ministry Monday admitted in Parliament that the indigenous main battle tank (MBT) Arjun has shown some recurring defects, besides having some faulty parts, in the just-concluded winter trials. “Failure of power packs, lower accuracy and consistency have been noticed during the ongoing Accelerated User Cum Reliability Trials by the Army,” Minister of State for Defence (production) Rao Inderjit Singh told the Lok Sabha. “During the trial, the tank also witnessed shearing of top rollers and chipping of gun barrels,”......

 

[jawadqamar]

Arjun Tank Disaster Part IV: Final words
ASIAN DEFENCE: Arjun Tank Disaster Part IV: Final words

There are several questions that arise in once mind when he reads all the history and news reporting about the Arjun tank project and first one is always, who is responsible for this mess? Is it DRDO or Ministry of Defence or Indian Army? Different experts from Indian media, Indian army, DRDO and Indian government are trying to put blame every one but themselves.

Golden question is who should be making the choices that which tank should be bought? Should it be


Standing Committee on Defence/ Indian parliament


DRDO


Ministry of Defence


Indian Army


As in the end it will be the Indian army officers which are going to the battle field , they are the one who are going to ride the horse in battle not the Standing Committee on Defence or indian parliament or DRDO, so it should be Indian army’s choice which should be respected at all costs. I think that irrespective of the weight and other features, if Indian army is given a choice as to which tank they would like to ride to battle, which tank would you choose? And their answer is very clear, they have decided in favor of importing the T-90s then going for the Arjun..............

 

[spsk]

Yes thats well known to All.But one more think I would like to add here.Parliamentary panel has submitted a report about DRDOs failures and delays in many of the crucial projects and there has been a major change in the strategy for DRDO.Especially in missile system for short and medium range missiles DRDO would consider joint development with other countries.At last they have decided to throw out the "indigenous failures" and consider partnerships in many other areas where they need to develop.So I think DRDO in mode of correcting their mistakes .


And jawadqamar,military will decide what they want to purchase.Civilian administration got very less influence there.

 

[Rajkumar]

karat karat abhyas ke 'jad mati' hot sujan.
i guess DRDO will keep on trying to develop always new. i salute them.