India plans to replace Arjun
India began work on its a tank next generation. It is called FMBT (Future Main Battle Tank), the purpose of its creation is to qualitatively replace the last Indian-developed tank, Arjun.This worries many Indian taxpayers and the military, as the government only recently ordered an extra 124 unit for Arjun tanks. Competitive tests between the Indian Arjun and the Russian T-90 brought an unexpected victory to Arjun. The Indian army was forced to conduct comparative field trials under the pressure of pro-Arjun politicians. They were competed by the local tank Arjun, which was previously considered unpromising and by the Russian T-90, currently regarded as the main tank of the Indian army. Fourteen units of each tank were used, and the results were highly classified. But the journalists had no problems getting unofficial reports that Arjun was able to better T-90 to pass the tests of mobility, endurance and fire.
This was unusual, because until now, Arjun was considered expensive and a failure. The development of Arjun began in the 1980-ies, and lasted until the 2006 year, the army received only five of them, for evaluation purposes. The ratings were not good. Originally, Arjun was supposed to replace thousands of Russian tanks, but after many deferments, the army reluctantly accepted the 128 Arjun (adopted by the 140 armored brigade).
New test results have led to renewed pressure on the army to buy more Arjun tanks. This was a victory for the defense bureaucrats involved in the development and procurement weapons over the generals. The bureaucrats took on the 1: 0 score. But the struggle continues. Presumably, the test results can be explained by the fact that in Arjun all the problems related to electronics are corrected. In this case, with a fire control system. But Arjun also had engine problems, and the fact that its size and weight do not allow it to be used in a modern tank.
Regarding FMBT, it is planned that it will weigh up to 50 tons, and the rest will be at the level of Arjun and other modern tanks. FMBT is expected to replace the old Russian tanks.
Meanwhile, last year, an Indian factory delivered the first 10 (of thousands) T-90 tanks to the Indian Army. The Russian-designed tanks are manufactured in India under license. Many of the components are Indian-made, while some electronic components are imported from Western suppliers. The Indian-made T-90s cost about $3 million each. India has already bought 700 Russian-made T-90s, at a cost of $3,5 million each. The FMBT is expected to cost over $5 million each. The high price is due to the extensive use of high technology. It includes an active missile defense system to defeat anti-tank missiles. missiles, a much more powerful engine, lots of electronics, and a hermetically sealed crew compartment with protection against biological, chemical weapons, and radiation. All of these things are quite complex to develop.
Four years ago, India adopted the Russian T-90 as its new main battle tank. By 2020, India will have 2000 upgraded T-72, more than 1500 T-90, and several hundred other tanks (including several Arjun). This will be the most powerful armored force in Eurasia, if China does not overtake it by upgrading its tank forces. The border between China and India is high in the Himalayan mountains, which are not a good place to use tanks. The tank forces of India are intended for use mainly against Pakistan.
T-90 is a very advanced evolution of T-72. Originally, the T-90 was designed as a backup design. The successor to the T-72 was to become the T-80. But, as in stories with the T-62 and T-64 before, the production of the T-80 did not go exactly as planned. So T-72 received significant improvements to the tower, a more powerful engine and all sorts of additions, resulting in a T-90. It had a mass of 47 tons, with almost the same dimensions as the T-72. In the same wrapper get the best content. With well-trained crews, this tank can be a deadly weapon. Arjun weighs 59 tons and has much larger overall dimensions.
FMBT is likely to be closer in size to the T-90. Indian armored specialists, both military and civilian, hope that FMBT will be based on T-90 rather than Arjun. But the most important aspect of the FMBT project is DRDO (Defense Development Organization), which also developed Arjun. There is a fear that DRDO experts have not learned anything from a lot of their mistakes when developing Arjun. Journalists learn how fair the field trials were between T-90 and Arjun. In any country, the issue of military equipment is always connected with politics, and in India this problem is very serious.
Hopefully, FMBT will not be a new disaster DRDO.
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