“Armata” and Su-57 in Indian style: we must be friends with Russia!
India in general can serve as an example of how not to do things in the style of “Your own means the best in the world.” By acting in this way, you can generally go far and fail, for example, to modernize “your” Su-30MKI aircraft, which we have already written about.
But the Indian Air Force has its own “unparalleled in the world” fighter “Tejas”, we will save it for dessert, since this flying circus with horses deserves a separate story, as an epic.
And yet, an airplane is a very complex mechanism, and creating it is not as easy as a tank or a machine gun. Although there are big problems with this in India. I mean, with machine guns and tanks.
In general, technology of the highest order is given to Indians with enormous problems. Yes, they really want to do everything themselves and not depend on anyone. This is a very correct approach on the one hand, but on the other...
Epic of the machine gun
Well, what about automatic? Or an assault rifle? There is the Russian Kalashnikov, there is the American M-15/M-16, there is the Belgian FN. Choose, buy, produce.
No, it's too simple. We need to find our way, like the Mandalorians, and what it will be is the third question.
Until a certain point, the Indian army was armed with Belgian products, with which there were no problems. But no one had any particular problems with the Belgian rifles, and we are silent about those who were armed with AKs, because the problems were exclusively with the opponents.
And so the Indian military decided that it was a bloody nose, but they needed their own. Such that at the parade the blood from the eyes from patriotism and in battle would sweep away the enemy with a steel broom.
But just taking it and starting to produce under license is not curry, so we decided to do this: take several samples from world leaders and, based on them, build something of our own. No sooner said than done, they took samples and started sculpting.
Already what was taken should have caused bewilderment:
- Kalashnikov assault rifle. It’s clear here: reliability, manufacturability, price;
- Israeli "Galil". This is not entirely clear, because the Galil was made on the basis of the Finnish Valmet Rk 62 assault rifle, which in turn was a licensed copy of the AK;
- British L1A1. Well, everything is strange here, apparently. historical the orientation toward the British masters had no other effect. But since the L1A1 itself was based on the now classic FN FAL,
In general, all this stuff was thrown into one heap and they started dancing fiery Indian dances and songs around. And they danced not a lot, not a little, but for 17 whole years. This is exactly how much time has passed since the first sample, named INSAS, was released in the mid-80s of the last century at the state arsenal of the Indian State Ordnance Factory Board.
17 years doesn’t seem to be very fast, but the Indian mentality apparently played a role here. They’re generally not very hasty guys. What’s the point of rushing somewhere headlong if there are still countless rebirths ahead? Karma is not an easy thing to understand, but the wheel of Samsara turns, which means that everything goes according to thousand-year-old attitudes.
So 17 years for an Indian is like 17 moments in April. Quickly, but effortlessly, and therefore, after dancing for so many years, in 1998, the Indian Ministry of Defense solemnly (how else?) announced the adoption of the Indian National Small Arms System - the Indian national small arms system weapons.
INSAS simply looked gorgeous at Indian parades; the announcers probably said with admiration that this was the first Indian completely domestic small arms system, which has no analogues in the world. But the issue of rearming its army with domestic weapons was a high priority for the Indian military, so for a whole year India enjoyed the presence of a new modern INSAS rifle in its army.
A whole year... And then another Indo-Pakistani war broke out, called the Kargil war.
And here all the shortcomings of the rifle began to come out, and in such quantities that the Indian army soldiers actually started riots, demanding the return of the Kalashnikov assault rifles.
In general, it is not entirely clear how, taking such beautiful rifles as the AK and FN FAL, it was possible to create such a cruel and unusable one.
Misfire was the bane of INSAS. How this happened, considering that the bolt was copied from an AK, is very difficult to say. But it’s a fact: a comparison with the AK-103 showed that the Russian machine gun misfires 0,02%, while INSAS easily misfired 3%. This means that standard zinc fired 2 rounds of AK ammunition without a single misfire. And the second is the same zinc. And only on the third, somewhere around the 000th shot, could the AK allow itself to misfire. INSAS, according to statistics, detected 2000 out of 60 rounds. That is, there was a misfire for every 33 shots. Almost every store.
Imagine yourself in the shoes of an Indian soldier. How comfortable can you feel in battle, knowing that in every magazine there is a possibility of one cartridge misfiring, which could cost you your life?
So the Indian soldiers in the Kargil war, although won, had the impression that the new weapons were completely unsuitable for combat.
It is not surprising that after dancing around INSAS for another 10 years in attempts to somehow improve the performance of the rifle, in 2010 the Indian Ministry of Defense signed an agreement with Bulgaria on the purchase of locally licensed AKs from the Bulgarians.
Why Bulgarian AKs? Well, everything is simple here: price.
The Bulgarian copy of the AK cost 22 rupees. The Russian AK cost the Indian budget 000 rupees. It’s not that it’s much more expensive, but that’s how the Indians decided, to once again save on at least something. The funny thing is that “our own” INSAS rifle, which did not shoot properly, cost the country’s budget more than 25 rupees.
In 2015, the Ministry of Internal Affairs began urgently re-equipping its battalions of the central reserve police (you understand, an analogue of the Internal Troops of the USSR) from INSAS to AK-103, as patience ran out and the Ministry of Internal Affairs realized that all attempts to make something sane out of INSAS fail.
Well, it went downhill from there, and eventually the military decided in 2016 that the best place for INSAS was in well-guarded warehouses. And in 2018, a license was acquired to produce the AK-203 in India.
And INSAS, in the amount of about a million units, was placed in territorial self-defense warehouses. Where will they extract it from, well, in the worst case scenario, such as general mobilization.
And all that remains is to regret the wasted time and resources, such as the 400 million dollars spent on creating this masterpiece. But now the Indian army will be armed with quite decent weapons, the only drawback of which will be their assembly by Indian hands.
The Epic of the Mutant Tank
It's cooler here. This is not just two decades, this story lasts more than half a century. By the standards of history, of course, not time, but nevertheless. And here it’s not entirely clear what came first, the chicken or the egg, but with the Arjun tank everything turned out exactly the same as with a machine gun, even cooler.
It’s difficult to say what the designers of the “Arjun” wanted as a result, perhaps the relative simplicity of the German “Leopard” (if compared with the same “Leclerc”) and a rifled gun, like the “Challenger”, but clearly “Lego”, bright and cool not it came out. The result was really some kind of creepy hybrid, assembled according to the principle “I made it from what I had.”
This is the case when the state concept “Make in India!”, and this, it must be said, is not just a motto, it is a state program with the allocation of serious funds, if that. And today, fifty years later, the story of “Arjun” looks like such a cut that it’s time to shoot the series “Arjuna” in Bollywood for five hundred episodes or even more, since the tank is still hanging out in the “promising” ones.
Like our "Armata".
But if the T-14 is a really promising tank, then how can a tank that is over fifty be considered such?
After all, work on the design of the Arjuna began in that distant year, when the first T-72s began to be assembled in Nizhny Tagil. But the T-72 today is a honored combat veteran, still relevant on the battlefield to the point of “I can’t”, and “Arjun” is still running in the “promising” category.
Moreover, this perspective is somehow one-sided. On paper, the Arjun destroys all known tanks in the world, including the Russian T-72 and T-90, which are in service with the Indian army. But as soon as another conflict begins in Kashmir or Ladakh, it is the T-90 and T-72 that are dragged to those areas by the tractors.
And in peacetime and at training grounds, according to the Indian military, “Arjun” is the coolest in the world.
In general, it was initially planned to create a conventional MBT, like the British and Soviet tanks then in service with the Indian Army, only, naturally, better in all respects. The design was undertaken by the very famous “Defense Research and Development Organization” (DRDO for short).
The first vehicles were planned to be delivered to the army after 1980, and by the beginning of the 90s, all imported vehicles were to be completely ousted from the Indian tank forces. And by 2000, and in general, the Arjun was supposed to be replaced by some new tank of the next generation...
But DRDO failed in this task. Having failed all plans miserably.
However, everything is not just like that and the fact is that the Indians did not have much to create a tank from. Here is this program “Make in India!” played a very difficult role. On the one hand, the principle “take it or die” must be followed, on the other hand, what if there is nothing to take?
India did not have its own decent production of armor-piercing shells. As well as experience in developing such.
The tank did not have its own powerful and reliable diesel engine.
There was no production of composite armor.
There was no production of tank guns.
And so - everything is fine, go ahead and make a tank for India!
Well, the British helped with the cannon. They really wanted to knock Russia out of the market. They dropped an experimental 110 mm gun from the master's shoulder. The Germans volunteered to help with the engine, transmission and ammunition. And under license from the USSR, they have already begun to produce the B-46 tank engine, which powered the “Indian” Vijayant tanks.
In general, something compact, weighing about 40 tons, began to emerge, but suddenly thunder struck: Pakistan is negotiating the purchase of Abrams from the United States! If this is so, then neighbors with whom relations in life have been more than difficult would receive a huge advantage!
Well, as always in such cases: a cry from above, “Everything needs to be redone urgently!”
Remade. The result was a fierce nightmare weighing 59 tons, with a cruising range of 200 km on 1610 liters of fuel, with an old English 120-mm cannon, with an incomprehensible prospect of movement, since the Indian transport network was frankly not ready to move such a monster.
But everything is very patriotic. Everything is “our own”.
When new information hit that Pakistan was buying T-84U from Ukraine, hysteria flared up with renewed vigor. But to the delight of the tankers, this time the “patriots” lost to the “businessmen” who bought a license for the T-90 from Russia.
In general, if you give an Indian an understanding of what he should do, that is, stupidly produce parts and assemble a tank from them, then he can cope with it quite well. Localization for the same T-72 reached a record 93%, that is, they can.
Yes, a certain number (124 pieces) of “Arjuns” were still produced. It’s not entirely clear why there are so many; more than three dozen would be enough for parades. They say that there is another contract for as many as 118 tanks, each of which costs almost three million dollars, and the entire contract costs a billion. Well, it’s clear that in addition to tanks, a lot of other things still need to be released.
In general, “Arjun”, it seems to me, is simply a means of making money under the brand of patriotic “Make in India”. Because in India they actually made more than 2 T-500s and more than 72 T-1s, and these are tanks more combat-ready than the Arjun. At least, “Arjun” has not participated in a single battle in its 000 years of existence, which cannot be said about Russian tanks, which are used systematically and regularly.
But he, “Arjun,” is Indian and rides in parades very patriotically. Well, just like our Armata. But the T-90s that are better suited for this will go into battle, because they are more reliable and cheaper. Well, really, who in their right mind would send tanks into battle, each of which costs three million dollars?
No, there was actually a chance. In 2019, when the disputed Aksai Chin highland region on the Indian-Chinese “Line of Control” caught fire, the Indian military planned to deploy and use the Arjun there. At the same time, they would test it in battle. But it turned out that the “Arjun” was not suitable for operations in the mountains, it was difficult to get it there, and therefore the same repeatedly tested, proven and reliable T-90S and T-72M1 went to fight (well, then China and India did not fight).
Maybe that's why the Chinese changed their minds?
In general, the “Arjun” turned out to be unable to fight in principle, the “tank of the future” under the latest Indian FMBT program remained on paper, but last year the Indians again announced a large technological tender for the creation of a “tank of the future”: Future Ready Combat Vehicle ( FRCV). This new and stunning creation, which in India is called a “universal tank”, should completely replace the T-72M1... by 2030!!!
Considering that 2024 is in full swing, it becomes clear that our “old men” T-72M1 will not be able to retire from the Indian army. But we will see another one and a half to two hundred exciting series.
Mini-epic about a useless plane
The dance to create this aircraft does not last as long as with the Arjun tank, but no less fiery. Everyone has already understood that we are talking about the Tejas, a multi-role fighter from the “Made in India” program.
A single-engine tailless aircraft, like one written off from the Mirage, today looks like a visitor from the last century against the backdrop of real modern aircraft. They spent as much as one and a half billion dollars on this.
The development of this miracle has been going on since 1983. The first prototype rolled out of the workshop in 1996. They rolled out to thunderous applause, because this aircraft could carry twice as much weapons as the MiG-21, which was frankly outdated at that time.
But the Mig-21 continued to fly and was retired just recently. And Tejas made its first flight only in 2001, that is, five years after its construction.
Considering that the plane also took five years to build, some uncomfortable questions arise. Isn’t it cool to spend five years eliminating shortcomings? Excuse me, in that amount of time you can polish it with a file to a mirror shine, what was even built there?
Well, in 2001, Tejas flew. The question is how. So that the Indians fell at the feet of their friends from Israel and tearfully began to beg to bring this flying misunderstanding to mind. The Israeli specialists condescended (as I understand it - for a handful of dollars) and after another five years three prototypes were already flying.
In March 2012, a contract was signed to supply the Indian Air Force with the first 40 fighters. And already in 2020, just 37 years later, the first Tejas was accepted by the Indian Air Force.
If we remember, it was in 2020 that the unfortunate competition MMRCA, which had been played for several years, finally died in India. On its ruins they decided to hold a tender for the purchase of 114 imported aircraft, so they could not leave the Air Force without aircraft? The tender was not completed because patriotism won again, and they decided to spend $6 billion on purchasing not 114 imported aircraft at 52,6 million apiece (these are not the latest F-16 or Su-30 models, for that matter), but to buy as many as 83 light fighter "Tejas". At $72,2 million apiece. This is already real F-16 Block 70/72, F-15D, Su-30MK and so on. That is, planes that, even if they leave a wet spot behind the Tejas, will not be very large in size.
And while this batch is being built by 2028, Indian designers will be feverishly looking for ways to correct all the shortcomings of the Tejas.
Bollywood has already made a film featuring the plane. It was called “Tejas”, which was the name of the main character. The film turned out to be a masterpiece, grossing $700 against production costs of $000.
It's not much better with an airplane. The eternally promising Indian air-to-surface missiles, just like the Arjun tank, remain in a promising state, and the urgently purchased French AASM-Hammers for some reason refuse to work with Indian guidance systems, although they fly there with Rafales, where they were told to go.
***
In general, dancing, singing, and drinking. When you look at the money that Indian partners spend on entertainment such as creating purely Indian weapons, you realize that there is a lot to learn and envy. But with this patriotic program “Make in India!” they are clearly overkill. Although they are really great in some areas, if you take the same Su-30MKI, it is not for nothing that it costs more than the standard one, they stuffed them with both French and Israeli electronics and somehow made everything work with our units. But the provision for kickbacks is also normal.
All this throwing and shirking, as expected, will not lead to anything decent and effective. India is somewhat different from the country that is rich in the historical school of engineers and designers; it is clear that until the middle of the last century it was an ordinary British colony, where there was simply no need for anyone to develop invention.
The tenacity with which Indians are trying to create something of their own is, of course, commendable, but this “own” is simply stupidly copied British or Russian. Moreover, unlike their Chinese neighbors, Indians are not good at copying. And they will not succeed further; this is a slightly different path of development, which does not end where simple licensed copying begins.
Well, plus colossal Indian corruption.
In fact, theft - of course, yes, it was, is and will be. The only question is under what flag. And you can have fun developing “domestic” types of weapons for several decades, but on condition that the developers have an army behind them, armed with quite normal weapons.
The fact that the frankly poor INSAS was replaced with the AK-103/203 is a normal move. How much longer they will dance around the Arjun is a question, but there are T-90 and T-72, which are definitely better than what Pakistan and China have. Tejas, of course, can be tolerated because there is a Su-30MKI. And so on.
I will express the opinion that after having fun with the game of creating “their own” weapons, bright Indian minds will return to purchasing in Russia and producing at home. Actually, to the fact that they are doing it more or less decently. And there you can try again to create something like “Brahmos”, it was a very successful work.
The main thing is not to give up, like they abandoned the FGFA fighter project. This is a demonstration of the approach itself: we don’t like it, we’ll take it somewhere else, cheaper, maybe not new, but we’ll take it. And, having refused to develop an aircraft “for themselves,” Indian leaders doomed pilots to fly the MiG-21, and instead of the fifth-generation fighter, the Tejas, which can really be screwed by the MiG-29, which is by no means a standard in the sky.
In general, India's security is best ensured by strong friendship with Russia, backed by a good amount of currency. And tomorrow you won’t have a headache at all, and you can continue to have fun with the inventions of Indian weapons, which have no analogues in the world in the good sense of the word.
It is purely Indian and looks very beautiful. At parades. It’s better to fight with Russian weapons. It was made for someone else, it’s safer with him.
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