What's going on with the Arjun MBT?

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rogue link 10/10/2006 11:50:59 PM

here's the link again

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Jawan Not cancelled. 10/11/2006 2:27:57 AM

Nope it is not cancelled. Indian Army is desperate to upgrade its tanks so they want to go for another 1000 T-90s coz they think they are better than the Arjuns. Some Arjuns have been ordered and in the trials IA has found them wanting.

DRDO claims that it will fix them and get the Arjun all ready, but IA does not believe the DRDO. This organization has failed to meet the deadlines on all its projects except I guess the IJT.

Arjun is still on course albiet late late late.. Too much money riding on it still.

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Jawan 10/11/2006 2:35:16 AM

Indian Army Overhauls Tank, Vehicle Fleets
By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI, NEW DELHI

The Indian Army is making massive efforts to upgrade or replace its tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.

In June, Army officials received Defence Ministry permission to order about 1,000 T-90 tanks from the state-owned Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for $2.5 billion.

The first batch of 300 T-90s will be built by OFB’s Medak and Avadhi ordnance factories in southern India, which are to turn out 50 tanks in 2009, 100 tanks the next year and 150 the year after that. No new facilities will be needed; the Avadhi plant built 186 T-90s from Russian-made kits beginning in 2004, part of a 2001 deal that also imported 124 fully assembled T-90s from Russia.

Last month, ministry officials approved the Army’s $90 million proposal to order 123 next-generation BMP-2K infantry combat vehicles from OFB. The vehicles will be built under license from Russia’s Rosoboronexport and delivered from 2007 to 2008.

The BMP-2Ks will replace about 600 Soviet-made BRDM-II (Striker) troop carriers bought in the mid-1970s.

One senior OFB official said it would be a challenge to introduce the advanced vehicles, for which India is the only export customer so far.
The new vehicles will provide more firepower, armor, mobility and reliability. The vehicle will have the VESNA/K sighting system with a thermal imaging camera; SOZh gunsight with improved optics and a two-dimensional stabilizing system; an integrated laser rangefinder; electromechanical loading system for anti-tank guided missiles; new, more accurate and deadlier rounds; additional armor; Arena-E active protection kit and SHTORA-1 electro-optical countermeasures. The 21-ton BMP 2K will carry seven people plus its three-person crew.

It will be armed with a 30mm 2A 72 two-belt automatic cannon, a 100mm 2A 70 semiautomatic gun, three 7.62mm PKT machine guns and the 9K 117 BASTION machine gun. The fire-control system will be able to launch eight anti-tank guided missiles at once.

The Army has also decided to upgrade its 1,600 T-72 M1 tanks to the Russian T-72S standard. Such upgrades are available from the Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine. No contract has been signed for the upgrade work. Most of the current fleet was built at Avadhi from 1982 to 1986. More than 40 percent are unused because of age and obsolescence.

The Army’s 900 BMP-IIs are being upgraded in a $700 million program slated to run through 2012, with new engines, thermal sights, advanced land navigation systems and global positioning units, and nuclear-biological-chemical protection. A tracked, light amphibious vehicle, the BMP-II has been used in urban and rural counterinsurgency operations in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, the Army official said.

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Jawan Full scale production of Arjun MBT to begin: Defense Ministry 10/12/2006 10:55:19 PM

The government today said that full scale production of the country's indigenous main battle tank Arjun would soon start.

"We are on the verge of starting full scale production of the tank (Arjun)," Minister of state for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh told reporters here.

Singh said that after a recent comprehensive meeting between officials of the Army, Director General Qualitative anaylsis, department of defence production and Ordinance Factories Board had given a go ahead to the full scale production of the tank.

Though the tank is yet to face comparative trials with the Russian T-90 and upgraded T-72 tanks, the minister's remarks could mean that irrespective of the army pointing out some shortcomings in them, the government may go ahead with its mass production.

The erstwhile NDA Government had earlier given Cabinet approval for the production of 124 Arjuns pending its final comparative field trials.

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rogue 10/13/2006 2:44:30 AM

So, i know the arjun is way heavier than the t-90 or the t-72. Is that a better armor or just bad design? Also, does arjun use ERA?

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Jawan 10/13/2006 5:09:12 AM

So, i know the arjun is way heavier than the t-90 or the t-72. Is that a better armor or just bad design? Also, does arjun use ERA?

Yea it is heavier. Not better design wise though may have added armour. Now how good is Kanchan armour, nobody knows. The ones on field trials have not used ERA, but the ones being delievered by 2007 (124 Arjuns) do have them.

Features of the Arjun Mk.1 MBT

The integrated digital fire control system installed in the Arjun Mk.1 MBT consists of a laser rangefinder, ballistic computer, thermal imaging night sight, meteorological sensor, stabilised panoramic sight for the tank commander, stand-by (articulated) sighting telescope, GPS and an electronic gate to ensure a first round hit probability. The third generation director type, fire control system with a 120mm gun electronically slaved to the sights, enables the gunner to locate, identify, track, range and engage moving targets while its moving. This gives a high first round hit probability. The gunner's main sight consists of a day sight, thermal sight, laser rangefinder and stabilised head common, to all three channels. The common sighting head mirror is stabilised in elevation and azimuth. The day sight has dual magnification while the thermal imager provides a night vision facility to the gunner and the commander to observe and engage targets under conditions of total darkness and smoke. The laser rangefinder is integral with the gunner's sight.

The panoramic sight enables the commander to effect an all-round surveillance on the battlefield without moving his eyes from the sight and without being disturbed by the motion of the turret. The field of view is stabilised with the help of a two-axis rate gyro mounted on the platform of the head mirror. The sight has dual magnification. The ballistic computer, computes the gun laying data based on information provided by a number of sensors mounted in the vehicle and on manual inputs and provides the signals corresponding to the tangent elevation and azimuth offset. To increase the accuracy of the firing, the fire control system has a coincidence window that allows firing of the main armament only when it reaches the desired position as dictated by the computer. The 120mm rifled gun will fire APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot), HESH (High-Explosive Squash Head), HE (High-Explosive), HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) and smoke rounds. A special 120mm anti-helicopter round is under development as well. All 120mm rounds use a semi combustible cartridge case.

The 120mm rifled gun is made of ESR steel and is fitted with a thermal sleeve and a fume extractor. The thermal sleeve prevents irregular temperature distribution on to the tube due to the weather influences. A new high energy propellant is used in the 120mm rifled gun to give a higher muzzle velocity and therefore greater penetration characteristics. A 7.62mm machine gun is coaxial with the main armament and a 12.7mm AA machine gun is fitted for anti-aircraft defence. Production Arjun MBTs will also have a new composite laminate armour called Kanchan. This will be produced by Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MDNL). The tank also has a NBC (Nuclear-Biological-Chemical) system that is designed & built by BARC and a night vision device built by IRDE. To further enhance combat survivability, the tank has an auto-fire detection & suppression system. Ammunition is also stowed in water tight containers to reduce the risk of fire.

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rogue 10/14/2006 5:18:06 AM

was'nt there some talk about the mk.2 arjun...being the fixed and enhanced version of mk.1?

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