Arjun tanks ready for comparative trials with Russian T-90

newkerala ^ | 27/05/209 | Praful Kumar Singh

[AppyPappy]

Many of the new ones do. Plus helicopter and airplane attacks.

[lacrew]

One thing the Russians are very proud of is their automatic loader, which enables them to use a three man crew. The Arjun (like all western tanks) has no autoloader, and uses a 4 man crew.

It turns out that if you are doing extended operations, with crews pulling their own security, it is much better to have a 4th man to split the guard shifts. Also, the autoloaders can jam.

In the first gulf war, you may have noticed all the burnt up Iraqi tanks had their turrets blown off. This is because the autoloader uses ammunition stored in a vertical position, around the turret. In western tanks, with manual loading, the ammunition is stored horizontal, usually behind a blast door, with weakened blowout panels above, to direct explosions out.

For this reason alone, I would put my money on the Arjun. The Russians’ stubborn use of the autoloader has always been a problem for their tanks.

[pobeda1945]

As far as I understand like any weapon system autoloader has its own disadvantages and advantages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoloader

[Dosa26]

Thanks. That makes sense. It still looks wrong, even with reactive armor. Whoever makes the purchasing decisions on it knows the threats it will face better than I do though.

[green iguana]

I'm partial to the Ripsaw...

[Grimmy]

Another potential reason to avoid Russian gear is that Russia gives indications of being back into the expansionist empire mode again. Being dependent on that supply line may end up with more strings attached than a nation’s sovereignty can withstand.

I’m not from India, but I do heavily favor the people of that nation (and any other nation) building their own military hardware in their own factories for their own purposes. That’s about the only way to ensure spare parts and other supply issues any more, for anyone.