December7, 2006: India has decided to adopt the Russian T-90 as its new main battle tank. This came after over a decade of trying to make the Indian designed and manufactured Arjun tank work. Adopting the T-90 is admitting defeat in that department, and the Indian government does not like it. Current plans call for local production of about a thousand T-90s over the next 14 years. India already has 310 T-90s. By 2020, India will have 2,000 upgraded T-72s and a thousand T90s. This will be the most powerful armored force in Eurasia, unless China moves ahead with upgrades to its tank force. The border between China and India is high in the Himalayan mountains, which is not good tank country.

While the basic T72 is pretty unimpressive, a few upgrades turn it into a much more formidable (and expensive) tank. India will be adding modern, computerized fire control systems, with laser range finders and night-vision sights, and quality ammunition. While such a tank would still get blasted by an M-1, if the T-72 spotted the M-1 first, and got a flank shot, it could win. The T-72 is also a very mobile vehicle, about on a par with the famously nimble M-1. But protection is always going to be a problem. The stock T-72 is a 41 ton vehicle that is 23 feet long, 11 feet wide and 7.5 feet high. An M-1 is 62 tons, 32 feet long, 12 feet wide and eight feet high. The extra weight is mostly armor, and from the front, the M-1 is still very difficult to kill. To survive, a T-72 not only needs to accessorize, but requires a well trained crew. Most nations using T-72s, don't like to invest in crew training. But that's what makes the most difference in combat.

The T-72 evolved into the T-90. Originally, this was done as a fall-back design. The T-80 was supposed to be the successor to the T-72. But like the T-62 and T-64 before it, the T-80 didn't quite work out as planned. So the T-72, with a much improved turret and all manner of gadgets, was trotted out as the T-90. At 47 tons, but it's still 23 feet long, 11 feet wide and 7.5 feet high. Same package, better contents. And with well trained crews, it could be deadly.

India doesn't have to worry about facing M-1s. The main enemy is Pakistan, which has T-72s, a few T-80s and many older T-55s (the Chinese version.) Training remains a problem for the Indian army, because of rising fuel costs. Again, it's all relative, for the Pakistanis are even less able to pay for the vast quantities of fuel needed to move a tank around for training. Currently, fuel alone costs the Indian army about a dollar per kilometer traveled by each for T-72, and a little more for T-90s. So if you want to take a hundred T-72s out for several days of training, each vehicle is going to travel, say, 200 kilometers. That's $20,000 just for the fuel. Do that four times a year, for the entire 3,000 tank force, and you're out $2.5 million. That's for minimal training, and many countries cannot afford even that. You can more than double the fuel cost to take care of replacement parts and repairs for accidents. American armored vehicles cost from $15-$25 per kilometer to operate, largely because of higher personnel costs.