Arjun Tank Disaster Part II: Development years and Arjun’s first fight ~ ASIAN DEFENCE

Arjun Tank Disaster Part II: Development years and Arjun’s first fight On 9 January 1996, in a ceremony which was attended by then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, Arjun tank was formally unveiled and declared ready for mass production. Scientific Adviser to the Defense Minister, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the Indians consider the Arjun comparable to the M1A2 Abrams, Leopard 2 and Leclerc. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Shankar Roy chowdhury pointed out that while some of the tank's parameters needed to be 'further fine-tuned', they have enough confidence to plan different Arjun variants like self-propelled artillery version, Observation Post Vehicle and Air Defence with Guns and missiles, recovery, engineer and bridge layers. New bridge layers and recovery vehicles would be necessary because Arjun tank was substantially heavier when compared with the Indian army T-72M1 series. Most of India's roads are in the 40 ton military classification range, save for national highways' 70 ton range.

The 59-ton (58.5 tons) 15th Variant can achieve a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour (55 mph) and cross-country of 40 kilometers per hour with it's 1400 HP power plant. The Arjun's hydro-pneumatic suspension can be hardened or softened, according to the terrain and the 1610 litre fuel tank allows for a cruising range of 200 km (120 miles).The semi-automatic transmission, hydrodynamic torque converter and integral system are local designs (The designers seek to raise local from 60 % to 80 %). The service brake consists of a hydraulically operated high-performance brake disc that is incorporated into the final drive. The Arjun's crew compliment is the traditional four; commander, gunner, loader and driver. There are both limitations and advantages to this arrangement that any tanker will recognize; three-man crew with autoloaders can develop a higher rate of fire for shorter periods of time, but four-men crew allow the crew to accomplish more maintenance-related tasks with less fatigue. To insure crew survivability, production versions will have the indigenously-researched and developed Kanchan' composite armor, an automatic fire detection and suppression system, and a NBC protection system designed and built by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

It exerts a ground pressure of .84 kg/cm. square and can climb a gradient of 35 degrees (necessary for crossing Rajasthan sand dunes). Since the river-strewn Punjab area 'ditch cum bund'' defences caused innumerable problems during the 1971 War, the Arjun can cross 1.4 meters deep channels and 2.43 meter trenches.The MRS-equipped, rifled l20 mm gun (known as Gandiva', or Arjun's Bow) is made of ESR steel and fitted with a thermal sleeve and fume extractor. It's Rate of Fire is listed as six to eight rounds. All main gun rounds use a semi-combustible cartridge case with increased energy propellant for higher muzzle velocity and greater penetration characteristics. In addition to the usual suite of rounds, an anti-helicopter round is under development as well. On-board ammo is stowed in water-tight containers (indicating possible wet-stowage).The Arjun's fire control system includes a laser rangefinder, ballistic computer, thermal imaging night sight, stabilized panoramic sight for the tank commander, and a secondary telescopic sight. (One source had this system based on the Vijayanta's Mk 1B FCS developed by BHEL, which may have been fitted to one of the earlier prototype tanks). The gunner's main sight consists of a daylight, thermal sight and laser rangefinder channels. The common sighting head mirror is stabilized in elevation and azimuth. The daylight sight has dual magnification while the thermal imager provides a night vision facility to the gunner and the commander. The LRF (integral to the gunner's sight) has a range of nearly 10 km. and a Thermal Imager (which can 'see'' at around five-and-a half km, recognize a target at 3.1 km. and identify targets at 2.5 km). The Arjun Fire Control System's ability to fire on the move during the night is a major step forward for Indian armored forces. The commander's panoramic sight all-round surveillance without the TC moving his eyes from the sight and also without disturbing the lay of the turret. The Field of View is stabilized with the help of a two-axis rate gyro mounted on the platform of the head mirror.

Arjun’s first fight

Apparently, some problems were identified since the Arjun design profile was frozen again in July 1996, which would have allowed production to commence when funding became available. However, some design elements fell far short of army specifications. The 15 Pre-Production Series (PPS) tanks were supposed to be supplied to three armoured regiments for testing in 1996, but it wasn't until 27 August that the Defence Production and Supplies Secretary ordered them from the Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi. Indian media estimate placed the project cost at US $ 112 million or 400 million Rupees).At least one Arjun fielded by the 43rd Armoured Regiment participated in the 48th Republic Day parade on 27 January 1997. Delivery of the prototype lot was completed in April, field trials were again declared completed and series production was to start in early June '97. However, the list of faults after twenty years of development was not encouraging. In addition to unspecified but numerous technical modifications to its fire and gun control systems (the Commanders Periscopic Sight, the Laser Warning Sight and the Muzzle Reference Sight have been found 'unreliable'), the fire control system in particular has been found unable to perform in temperatures above 42 degrees Celsius. The DRDO has been comptemplating scraping the current Arjun FCS in favour of whatever is accepted for the T-72M1 upgrade programme.Since the Arjun extends 6cm beyond the official 3cm limit on either side of a standard Indian flatbed railcar, strategic transport would be extremely difficult. This would also require that India refurbish large sections of her rail network, as well as acquiring new rolling stock (This is nothing new, as the Germans had this problem with the ÔTiger' Mk VI in World War II). It's width and weight, Indian Rail to charge the Army over-dimensional consignment (ODC) costs, which are 150% over normal costs. The Indian Ministry of Defence allocated US$ 3.9 million (R165 million) to develop three Arjun-capable flatbed rail cars wagon by January 1999.

The German MTU MB 838 Ka-SOl 1 ,4OOhp diesel engine and transmission derated at high temperatures, with an estimated 20-25% powerloss from engine to drive sprocket while operating in desert temperatures of 45-500 Celcius. Ammunition stowage had to be reduced in order to increase engine cooling and the 15th PPS can not fire over the engine deck at 00 elevation because of the bulky cooling pack. This powerpack choice also resulted in bulges in the hull side walls. The problems with the hydropneumatic suspension can possibly be linked to the Arjun's difficulty in climbing sand dunes and other obstacles easily, with a sharp drop in speed in its attempt to do so. Furthermore, the inert gases needed would be another item added to the supply trains.As of mid-year, the 15th Arjun Mk I was to be the basis for the production model4. The defects noticed during the user trials of Mk.1 , including overheating of the engine in Rajasthan desert areas, had been 'by and large overcome' and certain other complaints were being addressed. CVRDE has mostly rectified the other problems in the hydro-pneumatic suspension.Another problem in the Arjun's development was that more than half the components (FCS, engine, transmission unit, tracks, thermal sight, night sight) are imported, with the design components 1970's and 80's vintage.Furthermore, the technology transfer agreements for the imported engine, gun control system, fire-control system had most vendors (like MTU and Holland's Oldelft, which makes the LRS 5 Fire Control System) producing components in India in a phased manner.

The production of 100 Arjun Mk.1 MBTs was expected to start by late 1997 (during the Ninth Defence Plan) at an estimated cost of US$ 2.8 million [Rs. 10 crores] each, though the Army feels that the 100-tank lot might take more than five years, given the capacity at the Avadi Heavy Vehicles Factory near Chennai and its commitments to various sectors of the armed forces. The first production tank was promised by 19985.

A later claim by DRDO stated that it needed up to (Rs 1,800 crores) to produce 120 tanks over the next five years, with each one costing US $ 4.2 million [Rs 15 crores] (about a 2,000 % increase in project cost since 1974).Another cost estimate figured that the Arjun will be over Rs 26 billion by 2001 for two or three regiments (124 tanks), totalling around US $5.6 million (Rs 200 million) per tank. This escalating estimate does not include the cost of ammunition, spares and engineering support for the Arjun's induction into service, which is estimated at over (Rs 5 billion).One reported Government-sanctioned figure for Arjun development and T-72M1 upgrade (with most going to the Arjun) is US $1.12 Billion (Rs 40 billion) spread out over the next three to five years.Despite promises made by the Finance Minister, Mr. P. Chidambaram, that lack of funds would not come in the way of India's defence needs, some officials were skeptical over deadlines being maintained by the production and subcontractors which might result not only in cost escalation but also affect defence preparedness. Detractors think that (baring drastic changes) the country's progressively shrinking defence budget, coupled with the persistent technical problems, would delay any serious Arjun serial production until 2002/2004. In early August, 1997 General Shankar Roy Chowdhury, Army chief of staff, promised officers and soldiers of the 13th Armoured Regiment that the Arjun would enter production soon. Less than two months later, DRDO was shaken by the desertion of scores of military scientists and engineers lured to the more lucrative private sector, jeopardizing the success of the Arjun project.As of 18 September, the Indian Parliament approved a $6.9 Billion (250 billion Rupee) Five-Year Defence Budget. In this 1997-2002 budget, some 40 Billion Rupees has been allocated for the Ajeya rebuild programme, and another 1 Billion Rupees for the first 100 Arjuns.