Posted on 07/18/2005 11:20:19 AM PDT by pabianice
Hey, shipmates -- looks like India may not be the next defense powerhouse after all. Wonder how their shipbuilding is going...
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India’s Arjun main battle tank again has failed in field trials, and the Army told the Defence Ministry here that the tank cannot be used in combat.
After 30 years of development by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Arjun has not lived up to Army expectations, a service official said.
Field trials were ordered for five of the 124 Arjun tanks delivered last August by the state-owned Heavy Vehicles Factory in Avadi. The DRDO wanted the Arjun to be given the same consideration as the Russian-built T-90 tank to be the main battle tank for the Army.
The capabilities of the 58-ton Arjuns were to be pitted against those of the Army’s lighter, shorter and more maneuverable T-90s on the Mahajan range in the Rajasthan desert the first week of June. However, the Arjun’s fire control system failed in general trials in May when they were moved from the factory to the Rajasthan range, the Army official said. The Army also found the tanks to have poor operational mobility.
Defence Ministry sources said the Arjun was considered a “dud tank” even before the Army’s latest declaration, but that the DRDO continues to support it due to the time and money invested in the program.
The Army official said the service has told the Defence Ministry that the Arjun tank can be used only for training, meaning it will remain only a “show piece.”
The government has spent more than $1 billion on Arjun’s development since the 1970s.
More than 60 percent of the Arjun’s components come from foreign vendors. Mahindra Singh, a defense analyst and retired Army major general, said that in the event of a tank battle, the availability of spare parts for the Arjun tank would not be guaranteed, as the parts are imported. He said India should stop serial production of the tank immediately and buy off-the-shelf tanks as soon as possible.
The Army earlier this year told the Defence Ministry that nearly 50 percent of its 3,200 tanks would be scrapped by 2008 due to age.
Maybe they can outsource tank production to the USA!
Time for our defense industry to give a helping hand.
Wooo, look at all those flat vertical surfaces. That's a gunners dream. Looks like a nice little shot trap in that turret overhang on the back deck, as well.
Paraphrasing from "Kelly's Heroes"
OddBall- "It's a beootifull tank.
Moriarity- "It's a piece of junk!"
The turret armor is so flat that it will be a wonderful target.
I thought the Indian engineers were "brilliant."
That's what we have been told.
Were they wrong?
Apparently.
But they do work cheaper.
What does it matter that they can't get the job done?
Wonder if they would be interested in taking a shot at developing our Osprey?
Can anyone post a pic of our Abrams for comparison?
Say no more...
Can we export the Abrams
give Sgt. Bilko a shot at it.
After 30 years of 'tweaking' the GD'd thing is obsolete anyway!
Looks like the large Injun tank has a large engine.
You know you have trouble when an engineering slot on a project becomes a hereditary position. "You grandfather worked on designing this tank, you father worked on it, after you work on it your children and grandchildren will work on it. Someday our family will face the shame of finishing the design. Don't let it happen on your watch."
Looks like they tried to borrow pretty heavily from the M1 Abrams.
The Russian machines aren't quite up to the standards of the US and Israeli tanks, but they aren't bad either. Their early stuff was, apparently, damn good for the time (t-55 and earlier). The t-72 wasn't exactly a tour-de-force, but it could have been worse.
That having been said, the Merkava is probably the coolest main battle tank currently in regular use, followed by the Abrams (though I have to agree with US tankers who lament the fact that the M1 lacks the bottom hatches that the venerable m60 had).
When I look at the treads on any tank, I always wonder about vulnerability.
M1 Abrams
Please God No.
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