Army’s Order for 118 MBTs could be its last

Army’s Order for 118 MBTs could be its last

Snehesh Alex Philip (Senior Associate Editor, ThePrint) reports in about a year from now, the Army will place an order for 118 Arjun Mk1A Main Battle Tanks. Known as the “hunter killers”, the latest version of the tank, is equipped with a 120 mm rifled gun and Kanchan armour.

Philip  speculates if this could be the Army’s last order.

“India’s Armoured Corps, which has majorly used only Russian tanks, has an operational requirement of medium-weight tanks — weighing anywhere between 40-50 tonnes. It is also looking at a lighter tank for certain areas like the hills, riverines and islands.

Weight issues: “The Arjun tank, first envisaged in 1972, was meant to replace the Russian T-72 that is still in service. It was meant to weigh just 48 tonnes but eventually ended up weighing 62 tonnes. The latest version weighs 68.5 tonnes.”

According to former Director General Mechanised Forces Lt Gen A.B. Shivane (Retd), the greatest challenge for Arjun is its deployability and restricted employability in open desert terrain — all because of its weight. “It lacks operational and strategic mobility which limits its employment options besides sustenance and logistics challenges.”

Colonel Ajay Singh (retd), an Armoured Corps Officer, who has seen the Arjun MBT in action, informs Philip that the indigenous system is a beautiful machine.  “But the 68 tonnes is too heavy for it to have any strategic mobility,” Col Singh says, adding that contrary to the belief that the tank is apt for deserts, it is more suited for semi-desert terrains.

Globally, writes Philip the trend in Western nations is to build heavier, bigger MBTs that give more fire power and protection to the crew.  The Challenger 2 of the British —weighing 62.5 tonne and having a 120 mm rifled gun firing armour-piercing and high-explosive ammunition — is one such example.

The UK is working on a new tank, the Challenger 3. It would be heavier than the Challenger 2 which has a combat-ready weight of 75 tonnes. The Leopard 2A7+, the latest MBT of Germany, has a weight of 67.5 tonnes.

The latest MBT of the US, Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 tank, an upgraded version of the combat proven Abrams M1A2, weighs a massive 73.6 tonnes.  The Merkava MK 4, the latest Israeli MBT, weighs a massive 65 tonnes. The latest Russian tank, the Armata, however, weighs just 48.5 tonnes, still higher than the (46 tonnes) T90 it will replace.

Indias requirement different: The Indian operational requirement, writes Philip  “is very different from that of other countries. Indian forces move in desert areas like that of Rajasthan, plains and canal-infested Punjab region, besides mountains and high-latitude areas like Ladakh and Sikkim.

The weight of the Arjun MBT is a huge mobility issue because there are not many 70-tonne category bridges along the border — neither on the Indian nor on the Pakistani side.

When the Ladakh standoff began, India airlifted thousands of additional soldiers, tanks and armoured personnel carriers to the border. That cannot be done in the case of the Arjun tank. Moreover, one also needs a lighter tank in the mountains because the dynamics are different.

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