Armor: India Stocks Up On APFSDS
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April 9, 2014: India has ordered
66,000 Russian 3VBM17 APFSDS
(Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized
Discarding Sabot) shells for the
125mm guns on their T-90 tanks.
Each of these shells will cost $6,556.
The 3VBM17 entered service in 1986,
weighs 20.4 kg (45 pounds) and
employs a 4.85 kg (10.7 pound)
tungsten penetrator that will go
through 450mm of steel. The
penetrator and its sabot leaves the
gun at 1,700 meters (5,610 feet) a
second. India wanted to buy an
Israeli APFSDS shell but the supplier
got tied up in an Indian anti-
corruption investigation so, rather
than wait for that to blow over, and
because the army was running low
on these shells, they went for the
Russian supplier. The Israeli shell
would have been more reliable and
penetrate over 20 percent more
armor, but considering the tanks
likely opponents (China and
Pakistan) have, the 3VBM17 is
adequate and a little cheaper.
Most modern 120/125mm tank guns
fire a shell that uses a smaller
25mm “penetrator.” The 25mm rod
of tungsten (or depleted uranium) is
surrounded by a “sabot” that falls
away once the shell clears the
barrel. This gives the penetrator
higher velocity and penetrating
power. This is the most expensive
type of 120/125mm shell and already
comes in several variants. There is
APDS (Armor Piercing Discarding
Sabot) and APFSDS (Armor Piercing
Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot, for
smooth bore guns). The armor
piercing element of discarding sabot
rounds is less than half the
diameter of the shell and made of
very expensive, high density metal.
Its smaller size enables it to hit the
target at very high speeds, up to
1,900 meters (6,270 feet) a second.
This is the most common type of
anti-tank shell and is constantly
being improved.
India uses other times of 125mm
ammo as well. In 2013 India
obtained a manufacturing license to
build 15,000 Russian Invar anti-tank
missiles for their T-90s. India has
earlier purchased 10,000 of these
missiles from Russia (that were built
in Russia) and with the
manufacturing license the average
cost will be about $2,000 per
missile. Buying the missiles from
Russia costs nearly $40,000 per
missile, while manufacturing in
India can cut that by nearly 30
percent, making the $2,000 per
missile license a good deal. The
Invar 9M119M1 (Invar-M) is fired
from the 125mm gun, like a shell,
but operates like a guided missile.
The 17.2 kg (37.8 pound) missile is
680mm (26.7 inches) long and has
pop-out fins (with a 250mm/9 inch
span) that aid in guidance (laser
beam riding, controlled by the tank
gunner). The missile has a max
range of 5,000 meters at a speed of
350 meters a second (14 seconds
max flight time). The Invar enables
the tank to hit targets at twice the
range of the 125mm shells. The
tandem warhead can penetrate up
to 900mm of armor (35.4 inches),
twice what the 3VBM17 can. Invar
has been around for two decades
and India is buying the latest
version.
India expects to have about 1,400
T-90s by the end of the decade. The
first T-90 entered service in 1993,
and India is the largest user. The
T-90 is basically an upgraded T-72,
which India already builds under
license. The T-90 weighs about 15
percent more than the 41 ton T-72.
The T-90 has a better fire control
system, night vision that is good out
to about 1,500 meters, and
electronic countermeasures against
anti-tank missiles. The autoloader,
which often failed in the T-72, is
more reliable and that makes the
three man crew (commander,
gunner, driver) more effective. The
T-90 has ERA (Explosive Reactive
Armor) in addition to its composite
armor.
The T-90 is not as lively as the T-72
and is actually slower on the
battlefield than the U.S. M-1 (which
has a horsepower to weight ratio of
24:1, compared to only 18:1 for the
T-90). The 125mm gun of the T-90 is
basically the same as the T-72.
However, if you use better ammo,
you stand a chance against top
rated tanks like the M-1. But that is
not what India expects to face. The
most likely opponent is Pakistan,
which is largely equipped with
1950s era T-55s (actually the
Chinese T-59 copy). The Pakistanis
also have 700 or so older T-72 type
tanks (Chinese T-69 and Ukrainian
T-80), but these would be outclassed
by the T-90. India plans to have 21
tank battalions ("regiments" in the
Indian army) of T-90s (with 62 tanks
each) by 2020. Actually, each
battalion only has 45 tanks going
into combat. The other 17 are for
training and replacements.
Armor: India Stocks Up On APFSDS
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