For the parade. But it's a good base for camo in a desert/mountain region, and eventually, it'll get the other colours added.
Posted on 01/24/2004 8:59:25 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Offshored from Russia to India. Is there anything that hasn't been offshored to India.
For the parade. But it's a good base for camo in a desert/mountain region, and eventually, it'll get the other colours added.
And it's not "India's first indigenously manufactured main battle tank,".
"In 1961 an agreement was signed with India and a factory was setup in Avadi, near Madaras in India to produce the Mark 1 Vickers MBT as the Vijayanta ["victory tank"]. This resulted in the first one rolling of the line in 1969. "
Just 8 years to assemble a proven design.
That's the *Arjun* in most military literature I've seen on the things. They built less than a hundred, not even enough to fully equip one Indian tank regiment, at the Avadi Heavy Vehicles Factory outside Madras, also where about half of India's T-72M1 fleet, known there as the Ajeya was built, then rebuilt to Ajeya Mark One specifications.
The Arjun turret design put all the eggs in one basket, depending on a large slabsided Chobham composite armour turret [known as *Kanchan* armour to the Indians] and a fairly outstanding 120mm gun, a step up from the L7 105mm guns fitted to the Indian rebuilt T55s, known there as . Reportedly, the Arjun's armour offered disappointing results both to L7A1 105mm HEAT and Soviet 125mm T72 ammunition hits. The height of the rear deck also limited over-rear deck main gun depression and traverse, a fairly common limitation in older Soviet designs that the T-90 does not appear to share.
There's some question as to whether the Arjuna was to have been a primary main battle tank, or a *support tank* for use by reservist and second-line forces for protection of strategic positions and infantry support, as India's upgraded Centurions, T55s and T72s are used now. But the chassis was also to have been developed into a 155/52 calibre SP artillery piece chassis known as Bhim, and probable a ground launched missile transporter, likely nuclear-capable-. The Indians are looking at building some 4,000 guns, enough for their present 185 artillery regiments, up to an increase of around a total of 200-225. The guessing is that reworked T-72 Ajeya chassis will now be used for those projects instead, probably a more cost-effective way of doing things.
The Indians also experimented with an Arjun turret on a T-72 hull/chassis.
Arjun Mark One:
Bhim 155 SP:
Indian T-55/105:
"Initially seen as an entirely new design, the production model is in fact based on the T-72BM, with some added features from the T-80 series. The T-90 features a new generation of armor on its hull and turret. Two variants, the T-90S and T-90E, have been identified as possible export models." ...
They are assembled locally from Russian kits, after India originally purchased a number of pre-built models. ... .
More precisely, the Indian version appears to be derived from a T-72M1's chassis, hull and running gear, with the turret and fire control of the improved T84- not at all a bad combination, though maybe a but underpowered. But if it allows the continued use of the Indian T-72 Ajeya tanks, plus commonality of spares with 4000-5000 T-72 chassis SP artillery pieces, and the older T-55s are upgraded with new T72 powerpacks, roadwheels and tracks, it'd make a lot of sense from a logistical commonality standpoint.
In any event, the new tank is known as Bhishma to its Indian army users.
Army Unveils Bhishma Tank
Bhishma, the first indigenously assembled main battle tank of the Russian T 90S, rolled out of the heavy vehicles factory at suburban Avadi here on Wednesday. Named after the legendary warrior and father-figure in Mahabharata, known for his courage, resilience and invincibility, the battle tank Bhishma will be a great asset for the Indian Army, being highly versatile, having lethal firepower, the capability to launch surprise hit at first sight, besides remarkable self-protection measures. Unveiling the Bhishma at the HVF, Union minister of state for defence O. Rajagopal said Arjun, the country's indigenous MBT, would also be launched in a few months.
Courtesy: The Asian Age, January 08, 2004
T-90 Tanks Handed Over to Army
The most advanced battle tank T-90S 'Bhishma', having tremendous night fighting capability and missle firing facility, was rolled out from the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi about 30 km from here, today. The first tank was handed out to Chief of Army Staff Gen. N C Vij by Minister of State for Defence O Rajagopal at the HVF premises in the presence of Director General of Ordnance Factories and Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board P K Misra, Additional Director of Ordnance Factories (Armoured Vehicles) A K Lamba and HVF General Manager B S Bhatia. The biggest advantage of T-90, when compared to T-72 tank was that it had tremendous night fighting capability and could fire missile to a range of 4000 m. The T-90 had undergone all trials and had proved its capability. The highly versatile and state-of-the-art battle tanks, having the capability to attack enemy targets precisely during night time, was assembled here with parts imported from Russia and was aimed at meeting the needs of the Indian Army in the coming decades.
Courtesy: The Hindu, January 07, 2004
Bhishma, Arjun, and Krishna:
Remember that Dukakis was photographed riding in the loader's hatch, not the commander's.
India's tank commanders, like the tank captain pictured, are a whole lot better breed than either of America's selfserving politicians. Give the Indian tank crewman his choice of ruling his entire country, or just his tank company, and see which he chooses. He knows at which one he might or might not do well at, and at which one he will almost certainly perform superbly. For him, failure is not an option.
I'd soldier with those Indian tankers and their leaders anyday.
From four kilometers away?
For real appreciation of it, sing it with German Leopard, Kätzchen, and Jagdpanzer90 crews at Grafenwohr, particularly when a couple of their older NCOs get up and include the banned SS-Panzer verse.
And slam beer krugs made from 90mm and 105mm main gun cases on the table for percussion accompaniment, instead of just stomping feet. Rookies sing the italicized lines.
His parents named him after an Auxiliary Power Unit? Why didn't they just call him Little Joe.
{inside joke for very old treadheads, and fairly recent ones]
An artist from Orissa performs at the inauguration of Folk Dance Festival as part of Republic Day celebrations at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on January 24, 2004. India will be celebrating its 55th Republic Day on January 26.
Pictures like this deserve a caption thread. The most acerbic and witty pearls will even pop up too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.