Zorawar: The Light Tank Project
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and its partner, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), on 6 July 2024 unveiled their indigenous light tank, Zorawar. Samir V Kamat, chairperson of DRDO, proudly said ‘In a short period of two years to two and a half years, we have not only designed this tank but made a first prototype.’
A in principle, go-ahead was given to the DRDO by the end of 2021 to manufacture 59 out of the requirement of 354 tanks. Contract for the remaining tanks would be given after an open bidding process, writes Lt Gen H S Panag (served in the Indian Army for 40 years; was GOC in C Northern Command and Central Command; Post retirement, he was Member of Armed Forces Tribunal) “for which some leading developers are in the fray.”
Need for light tanks: Light tanks, according to the former General “weigh half that of a medium tank and have a much higher power to weight ratio. Mechanised forces exploit their mobility for reconnaissance in the plains/deserts and in other roles not suitable for medium tanks like air transported/airborne/amphibious operations, operations in riverine/coastal/mountainous/high-altitude terrain, and counter-insurgency/built-up areas.”
Based on extensive exploitation in Ladakh/Sikkim, “it is our experience that medium tanks with a relatively lower power to weight ratio (18.8 and 21 hp/ton for T72 and T90 respectively) and restricted manoeuvrability and main gun elevation/depression, can be exploited in the broader valleys/plateaus. However, in narrow valleys and on ridge lines/passes, they suffer from serious limitations. In these areas, light tanks with power to weight ratio of 1:30 and better manoeuvrability and gun elevation/depression perform much better.”
A hybrid tank: As a first impression, the former General states ‘Zorawar is a hybrid tank with the prototype made with a Cummins 730 hp engine from United States, a Cockrill 105 mm gun and turret from Belgium, and a hull adapted from the Korean K-9 platform already being manufactured by L&T. It is assumed that all the imported systems would be manufactured in India with absolute transfer of technology……”
On paper, “Zorawar seems be at par with the PLA’s light tank, ZTQ 15, except that the latter has a relative higher degree of protection and a more powerful 1000 hp engine. However, it weighs 33-36 tons, making it a ‘light medium tank’ and it does not have amphibious capability…..”
