fsayed
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http://idrw.org/mr-parrikar-can-give-arjun-mbt-project-decent-burial/#more-98188
By 2020 Indian Army will have in its possession nearly 2000 Russia’s most formidable T-90s Main battle tank (MBT) in its inventory also making it one of the largest operator of latest Russian tanks in the world . while India’s Indigenously developed Arjun tank is still struggling to get past orders for even 200 tanks while Army kept on changing its technical requirements just to avoid placing orders for more tanks .
Indian Army has in possession only 122 Arjun Mark-I tanks and for long has been refusing to place orders for next batch and has demanded a host of new equipment and improvements in Mark-II tanks which are yet to clear never ending Armies user trials which always falls short of user expectations .
Arjun tanks in competitive trials against Russian T-90 tanks have emerged Top in almost all criteria which any other modern battle tanks thrives on to dominate any battlefield . Arjun has survived Point blank hits from the barrel of Main Guns of T-90s and have been audited by Israeli Merkava Main Battle Tank manufacturers who termed them ” Desert Ferraris ” and showered high praises on them . In a Rare praise of Indian weapons systems , last year Chinese military experts gave Arjun tanks a Thumbs up and termed it a very good tank while our own Army keeps on sidelining them .
Arjun tanks for long have been subjected to negative media campaigning from a certain section of the media , reports of equipment tampering has also have been reported in past . DRDO was also found complaining several times that under its internal trials tanks performed exceptionally well but under user trials, it was declared failure leading to a countless feud between Army and DRDO.
Raksha Mantri Parrikar after taking over role for Defence minister has not spoken much on Arjun tanks nor he has worked hard to bring Army onboard Arjun tank project like he did with LCA-Tejas programme. his defining silence on Arjun tank project seems to suggest that even he doesn’t have much room to manoeuvre when it comes to Arjun tanks .
Arjun tank still has 55% Imported content which makes them a formidable Battle tank but also more pricey than T-90 procured by Indian Army . The weight of the tank is another issue which has been widely talked about in the media . India army is in love with medium category tanks and has operated series of under 50 tonne Battle tanks in its fleets history . Arjun tank is not overweight but it was to be medium size tank before Army demanded that they wanted it to be a Heavy 60 + tonne monster tanks so that it can take on American Abrams main battle tanks which Army suspected could be acquired by Pakistani Army when they were evaluating them in their desert terrain only to reject them later .
Army is already thinking beyond Arjun and T-90s and is eyeing futuristic main battle tank (FMBT) for its operational service beyond 2027 . Request for Information (RFI) tender issued by the Directorate General of Mechanised Forces last year pretty much cleared that Army wants another medium category tank and anyone who has gone through trouble to study technical requirements of the new tank sorted by Army will understand that it literally screams ” I want Russia’s new offering based on the Armata ” .
DRDO is already losing patience with Indian Army and Arjun tanks are low on spares high on maintenance due to limited production run already , it won’t be surprising to read on a fine day that Army plans to scrap its Arjun tank fleet since they have been idle for long and due to lack of spares Army is no longer interested in their procurement.
Conclusion : 30 years is way too much time Country has already spent on its development and trying to convince Army and Politicians to give Arjun MBT Production run for more than 500 tanks which DRDO has been demanding to reduce its cost and make it viable to replace imported parts with local ones .
Parrikar should force Army to order 500+ Arjun MBTs in the first batch or Kill the program and commence work on development of FMBT and for Arjun MBT supporters who may cry foul , some weapons systems are way ahead of its time and are never meant to go into production , it’s better to sit back and take positives of the program to built a new tank .
By 2020 Indian Army will have in its possession nearly 2000 Russia’s most formidable T-90s Main battle tank (MBT) in its inventory also making it one of the largest operator of latest Russian tanks in the world . while India’s Indigenously developed Arjun tank is still struggling to get past orders for even 200 tanks while Army kept on changing its technical requirements just to avoid placing orders for more tanks .
Indian Army has in possession only 122 Arjun Mark-I tanks and for long has been refusing to place orders for next batch and has demanded a host of new equipment and improvements in Mark-II tanks which are yet to clear never ending Armies user trials which always falls short of user expectations .
Arjun tanks in competitive trials against Russian T-90 tanks have emerged Top in almost all criteria which any other modern battle tanks thrives on to dominate any battlefield . Arjun has survived Point blank hits from the barrel of Main Guns of T-90s and have been audited by Israeli Merkava Main Battle Tank manufacturers who termed them ” Desert Ferraris ” and showered high praises on them . In a Rare praise of Indian weapons systems , last year Chinese military experts gave Arjun tanks a Thumbs up and termed it a very good tank while our own Army keeps on sidelining them .
Arjun tanks for long have been subjected to negative media campaigning from a certain section of the media , reports of equipment tampering has also have been reported in past . DRDO was also found complaining several times that under its internal trials tanks performed exceptionally well but under user trials, it was declared failure leading to a countless feud between Army and DRDO.
Raksha Mantri Parrikar after taking over role for Defence minister has not spoken much on Arjun tanks nor he has worked hard to bring Army onboard Arjun tank project like he did with LCA-Tejas programme. his defining silence on Arjun tank project seems to suggest that even he doesn’t have much room to manoeuvre when it comes to Arjun tanks .
Arjun tank still has 55% Imported content which makes them a formidable Battle tank but also more pricey than T-90 procured by Indian Army . The weight of the tank is another issue which has been widely talked about in the media . India army is in love with medium category tanks and has operated series of under 50 tonne Battle tanks in its fleets history . Arjun tank is not overweight but it was to be medium size tank before Army demanded that they wanted it to be a Heavy 60 + tonne monster tanks so that it can take on American Abrams main battle tanks which Army suspected could be acquired by Pakistani Army when they were evaluating them in their desert terrain only to reject them later .
Army is already thinking beyond Arjun and T-90s and is eyeing futuristic main battle tank (FMBT) for its operational service beyond 2027 . Request for Information (RFI) tender issued by the Directorate General of Mechanised Forces last year pretty much cleared that Army wants another medium category tank and anyone who has gone through trouble to study technical requirements of the new tank sorted by Army will understand that it literally screams ” I want Russia’s new offering based on the Armata ” .
DRDO is already losing patience with Indian Army and Arjun tanks are low on spares high on maintenance due to limited production run already , it won’t be surprising to read on a fine day that Army plans to scrap its Arjun tank fleet since they have been idle for long and due to lack of spares Army is no longer interested in their procurement.
Conclusion : 30 years is way too much time Country has already spent on its development and trying to convince Army and Politicians to give Arjun MBT Production run for more than 500 tanks which DRDO has been demanding to reduce its cost and make it viable to replace imported parts with local ones .
Parrikar should force Army to order 500+ Arjun MBTs in the first batch or Kill the program and commence work on development of FMBT and for Arjun MBT supporters who may cry foul , some weapons systems are way ahead of its time and are never meant to go into production , it’s better to sit back and take positives of the program to built a new tank .
...or exchanging pleasantries at defence shows. Means squat in reality.
