Arjun Tank Disaster Part III: Present situation

In mid-November, DRDO chief A.P.J. Abdul Kalam told to a closed-door meeting of his ministry's Parliamentary Consultative Committee that the Arjun had been tested for 20,000 km and cleared for 'limited series production'. But before a crowd at the National Defence Academy in early December, the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ved Prakash Malik denied that Arjun's induction into the army was being delayed and added that some unspecified tests and improvements had to be carried out before the army could accept them. By early May, 1998, the US decision to impose sanctions on India could possibly jeopardize the Arjun's further development, since some US companies were supplying elements of the main gun-sighting and fire-control systems for the Arjun tank. There was also speculation as to whether Germany would stop supplying MTU engines. Arjun Executive Board (AEB) narrowed their choices for an FCS to Thomson CSF and Elbit of Israel (which could also be used in the T-72M1). The imported components used in the Arjun rose from 27% in the 1987 Prototype to 60% in the 1998 version.The Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the summer 1997 trials, released in mid-1998, noted six premature transmission failures and frequent overheating of the transmission fluid, probably because the imported transmission assembly had been overloaded. At that time it was estimated that the first Arjun MBT would roll out in 2000, with 20 to 30 more manufactured per year. After the 124 Arjun I's are finished, the Arjun II would begin series manufacture.It was estimated that first 120 tanks would cost $4.2 million each, while other cost estimates places the figure at $5.6 million each per tank by 2001, given a purchase of 124 tanks to equip two regiments. Production of the first batch of tanks might take more than the planned five years, given the capacity at the Avadi factory.

The Army had cleared the MBT Arjun for production and placed an indent on March 30, 2000 for the manufacture of 124 tanks by 2009 for two regiments. The present cost of the MBT Arjun is Rs.16.80 crore and the cost of T-90 is around Rs.12.00 crore. The cost of Arjun compares favourably with contemporary Western MBTs of its class, costing in the range of Rs.17 to 24 crores. Some of the state-of-the-art technologies incorporated in the Arjun are modern integrated fire control system with Fire Control Computer and MRS, Hydro-pneumatic suspension, Kanchan Armour, highly lethal and accurate FSAPDS ammunition and NBC protection. The major imported systems in the tank are the power pack and gun control system from Germany and Delft-SAGEM gunners main sight from OIP Belgium.

Last year news appeared in Indian media that DRDO has installed a black box-like instrument in the indigenous main battle tank (MBT) Arjun which is under development for nearly 36 years, following attempts to “sabotage” its engine. Minister of State for Defence (Production) Rao Inderjit Singh has also hinted at a conspiracy to “sabotage” the Arjun tank in April. “The possibility of sabotage needs to be examined. The engines fitted in the tanks were German and were performing well for the past 15 years. I wonder what has happened to them overnight,” Singh had said, talking about the reported failures of the tank. But on Dec 11, 2008 Indian Defence Minister AK Antony informed Rajya Sabha that the Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun was not tampered during any trials.

Fourteen Arjun tanks were handed over to the Indian Army for user trials last year but were returned to the manufacturer - the Combat Vehicles Development Establishment - with a list of defects. These included a deficient fire control system, inaccuracy of its guns, low speeds in tactical areas - principally the desert - and the tank’s inability to operate in temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius. “The Arjun can, at best serve us for another five or maximum 10 years. What we need is a tank that can serve us for the next 20 to 25 years,” an officer said. “I’m not saying it is a bad tank. It’s just not suited for our requirements. We need a futuristic tank that is at par with those available around the world, we will purchase the 124 tanks we have contracted for but no more beyond that,” the officer added.

The army’s thumbs down could well prove to be the last nail in the MBT project, analysts said, pointing to the fact that parliament had been informed in March that the tank had failed to deliver during its winter trials earlier this year. “We have just carried out the trial in winter. The tank performed very poorly. There have been four engine failures so far,” parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence quoted an army officer as saying.

Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor and his predecessor, General J.J. Singh, had on separate occasions expressed their unhappiness with the tank. “What we have today is a mid-level technology. What we need is a tank of international quality,” Kapoor said last November. Singh had spoken in much in the same vein during a major exercise in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert in April-May, 2007. “We have to make sure the troops are not exposed to any disadvantage,” Singh replied cryptically when asked about Arjun’s performance during the five-day Exercise ‘Ashwamedh’ for which a squadron of 14 Arjun tanks was deployed. The defence ministry Monday admitted in Parliament that the indigenous main battle tank (MBT) Arjun has shown some recurring defects, besides having some faulty parts, in the just-concluded winter trials. “Failure of power packs, lower accuracy and consistency have been noticed during the ongoing Accelerated User Cum Reliability Trials by the Army,” Minister of State for Defence (production) Rao Inderjit Singh told the Lok Sabha. “During the trial, the tank also witnessed shearing of top rollers and chipping of gun barrels,” Singh added. “Following the army’s adverse report on the tanks after winter trials last year, the DRDO had suggested a joint assessment be conducted but the army refused this outright,” In December 2008, Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the Lok Sabha in reply to a written question. “There has been some delay in the issue of tanks to the Army due to design modifications and removal of defects noticed during various trials by the Army,” he said.

Posted in: Arjun,India,Tank