 |
|
Image Courtesy Ajai Shukla / Broadsword
|
The Arjun Mk.2 trials come just weeks after Russia displayed an improved version of the T-90 tank at Defexpo 2012, and the timing is no coincidence. Russia has made it all but officially clear that the T-90 is superior in all respects to the Arjun, though this was hardly borne out in comparative trials between the Russian tank and an Arjun Mk.1 in 2010 (the DRDO says the Russian tank was uniformly drubbed). It isn’t difficult to see, however, that the Arjun’s loss is the T-90’s gain, and vice versa. It is at this juncture and this atmosphere that the Arjun Mk.2 trials are set to commence, and for these reasons that they will be watched closely by stakeholders. Also:
* If the Arjun Mk.2 is not a success, the overall Arjun programme will be a dead loss, since the programme needs a minimum supply order, overall, of 500 tanks to amortize project costs.
* The T-90 license build programme hasn’t been without problems, and years after the production line came up, there remain issues.
* The Arjun Mk.2 is crucial in every respect to the Army’s faith and confidence in the FMBT that it wants from the DRDO.
The heavier Arjun Mk.2 incorporates some 93 improvements on the Mk.1 tank, 124 of which are already in operational service in two tank regiments in the Army.
Personally, nothing would be more satisfying than to see the Arjun Mk.2 meet all requirements. It is truly sad that India has to continue to cookie-cut Russian tanks at great cost, especially at a time when the paradigm of the land battle is in a process of deep transformation anyway.
T 90MS is what you are talking about I had seen it in defexpo quit good upgrade but still (IMHO) it is tactics to add more fund in contracts for upgrading Indian T90S to MS level.
Yet T90 Vs Arjun is unrealistic comparison in any department.
But here corruption is fast and quality least
Generals, Bureaucrats & Politicians… who sign tatra trucks… with impunity… for the reasons… will only sign for… t-90's…
Anonymous said…
Generals, Bureaucrats & Politicians… who sign tatra trucks… with impunity… for the reasons… will only sign for… t-90's…
7:36 PM
it is all done by PSU walas and DRDO walas…If not enough by PMO walas and MoD walas. Poor generals and air marshals are only meant to be captive signatories except for a few smart ones..
shiv sir why you promoting T-90..
Arjun mark 1 has prove itself against
T-90
any real pics of arjun mk2 will be appriciated.
any real pics of arjun mk2 will be appriciated.
I would say go with the Arjun Mk.2 as it's time we invest in the program from the long term perspective.
There is always going to be comparisions, but we need to start looking at home first before going abroad for our MBT requirements going forward.
Lord Krishna bless Arjun.
I hope Arjun beats T-90 and is inducted in large number say 1000 Arjun MK2.
we MUST go indigenous…even if arjun mk2 is 30% inferior to T90…in the worst case….we can then always improve with a Arjun mk3….
Go with indian stuff…its not that bad anymore…and mk1 have proved its worth..mk2 can only be better…
all tanks – like all other weapon systems progressively improve over sustained development – look at the israeli merkava mk1, mk2, mk3 and mk4 series…..there's a huge difference between the mk1 and mk4…arjun should be no different…give it time…and support..
arjun should be india's MBT. period. Let's support it to the hilt!
-vishal
Wish all the best to Arjun Mk2 for its testing and inclusion in the Army.
Arjun and T-90 are not comparable as they fall in entirely different category. Accordingly they may have suitably different applications and shall be treated as such.
So Arjuns shall be inducted in maximum possible numbers and T-90 shall be judiciously upgraded to T-90MS or further.
Go Arjun!!
Hope Arjul will prove itself again inthese tests but one doubts i have here is i heard after all these 93 modification Arjun tank will weight around wopping 70 ton.Now for so many years Army stated the main reason not to include Arjun tank in large number due to it's weight which was earliar around 60 ton due to logistic issues.Now why we are increasing its weaight more and more.I think a 70 ton Arjun tank will be heavist in theworld.We all know that poor Bridges cant handle suce weaight.
I am sure due to corruption, Arjun will lose to T90S.
Please dont blame particularly to babus and ministers of MOD and don't say that our forces suffer because of them, actually problem is of trust. Forces (at short notices generally) we want so and so system to MOD, then MOD ask agencies can you deliver, without doing even a feasibility study they say yes we can, then MOD awards contract to agencies, now agencies who do not even have a know how of the system start working on it and off course they start is from scratch and obviously it took time to develop , when agencies come out with system and they show it to forces it becomes out dated but instead of working in cooperation with agencies forces start ridiculing agencies after that agencies work night and day and comes out with an awesome state of art system but this time forces change there requirements. at the end of the day, no body gets any thing and forces again approaches to MOD now from here babu giri game starts you know what it means bribe, expensive wine bottles gifted by companies e.t.c e.t.c happens. So crux is there are EGO problem bw forces & agencies , lack of huge understanding and cooperation and lack of willing to believe each other. And same what happened with in case with ARJUN LCA TRISHUL ALH DHRUV MARUT(fighter plane HAL made) and the list goes on.
Arjun MK-2 deign is same as Arjun MK-1, further going back Arjun MK1 degin was based on Leo2A4, Leo2a4 have deign flaws which are inherited to Arjun MK1 and this kept on going on MK2, DRDO may have a better performance tank but it gave little or no improvements on deign flaws..
My views on Arjun MK2 are based on that pic posted above..
Must induct atleast 1240 Arjun Tanks which is
equivalent to 10 complete
MBT regiments.
Arjun is Indianized Leopard 2A4 once upon a time known as "the best tank in the world". But, chors in our Army went to the extent of sabotaging this tank during trials so that inferior T90 could be procured in large numbers and therefore large kickbacks for our babu-neta-sipahis.
Let's hope the highly corrupt Indian Army doesn't pulls a similar stunt this time. DRDO should closely monitor these trials and if need be install a black box.
India is perhaps the only country in the world that decides to build an "indigenous" (the definition of that term keeps changing!) tank but then imports tank ammunition.
Apparently building tanks is "sexy" but not tank ammunition! That's why the geniuses at the MoD and the Army now have to import APFSDS rounds while the DRDO is building the Arjun. This kind of short sightedness epitomizes the Indian defense planning and industrial base where we can build "indigenous" assault rifles like INSAS but have to import bullets!
Even Abbot and Castello would look like geniuses before the clowns in charge in India.
From the way things are, Army would put in bare min. order of 124 mk2 tanks and go for more of T90. There is no money to be made in purchase of Arjun Tank, may it be mk1/2/3/4….Sorry state of affairs.
If the Arjun Mk2 is found to be superior to T-90 then the Indian Government should step in and shove the Arjun tank down the throat of the Army regardless of their shenanigans. Arjun will be the FMBT of India and not T-90. If the army has to change their military doctrine/paradigm to accomodate the Arjun so be it! Force it on them!
The sad fact is the Army top brass is no better then our politicians. They are just like corrupt politicians but hiding behind the military uniforms. They have shamelessly sabotaged te Arjun tank and nearly killed it even though it has proven itself to be FAR SUPERIOR to T-90. Thanks to the Army now we are stuck with an inferior T-90 which is hardly better then Pakistani upgraded T-80. I say…. SHOVE THE ARJUN DOWN ARMY'S THROAT!
Whether it is Russia, USA or France, our import lobby with powerful connections to the Media and brass will always win. Antony may not take commission or bribe but babus and brass have better cut.
There wold be people out there during the trials who will try to sabotage the new indigenous tank
cuzz…..
if this one works fine the army and bureaucrats would be under pressure from the general public to buy Arjun
DRDO BEAWARE !!!
Thanks for the great post and for taking a stance.
Why hasn't the Army ever conducted such stringent trials on the T-90 ? Why does it single out only Arjun ?
Make no mistake T-90 is RIDDLED WITH PROBLEMS like malfunctioning thermal imaging, and barrels that explode (3 soldiers were killed when a T-90 barrel exploded).
This means that the corrupt Army officers will try their best to sabotage the Arjun Mk.2 trials.
The Arjun Mk.2 must beat the T-90S to pulp in Rajasthan.
What do you get by
criticizing Arjun, Shiv?
You are a corrupt reporter…
Putin has bribed you hasn't he?
Hail INDIA, hail DRDO.
Arjun is far better tank than Tin-90. It will win for sure. No more foreign product.
India will never have Arjuns whether Mk1's or Mk2's. It is the corruption everywhere and India will have only T-90's. We should pray to God that Pakistan and China should have more corrupt people so that they will always have much inferior tanks compared to India's. Only that way this country will have security. Not by the efforts of its Scientists and Engineers but by the much higher level of moral degradation of other two countries.
The Arjun is a fine tank but perhaps too heavy for all the dashing "wannabe Guderians" of the Army.The bridges on the other side are way too weak for our kind of weights.Yes there is bridging equipment but do we have sufficient numbers if we include possibly high attrition? It would be embarrassing to be on the other side with no passport and no bridges.
Unfortunately or fortunately the dear boys will not be able to get a chance to try anything dashing because I have a feeling our Leaders will not permit that kind of warfare.
It is best therefore everyone sits down and find out of warfare will be permitted us. The Arjun would be wonderful for defensive warfare that we may decide to fight.
In this context the T72/T80/T90 makes a lot of sense.It is not too bad a tank and the occasional dash to the Barkee/Dera Baba Nanak bridge is possible.
Of course the Russians will use every trick to sell all that they can. It depends on us to see what we can.
We should develop not similar tanks but disimilar AFVs. A light tankette suited for mountain/jungle warfare/CI would be a best seller.The use of Tanks by Japan in SE Asia is little known but apparently highly effective.
Dear Folks ,
This love affair with Arjun seems strange and tragic – it assumes that the Armed forces are duffers and they do not know what they want.I would like to point out that :-
a) The army places its life on the line and they are entitled to choose the weapon they shall go to war with;
b)Indian competence in qualitative large scale manufacturing is still not developed – and it is not only the public sector . Russia despite its breakup can still deliver large quantities of tanks , afv's, ordnance , missiles etc. within a reasonable time frame which our industry can never do , at least as of now;even now the jawans are clamouring for decent socks for use in our northern borders and our we have simply raised our hands;
c) Arjun at best can serve as a second rung tank augumenting the T90 like the Vijyanta.It can certainly give us the beef in terms of numbers and serve in a defensive role; it can also serve as a test bed for skill development and ironing out the gaps in our capabilities.