Missile Testing on Arjun MK II May be Delayed | idrw.org
India's indigenous Main Battle Tank, the Arjun MK-II may have its missile testing runs delayed for up to a year with some of the LAHAT missiles procured from Isreal Aerospace Industries misfiring during the end-user test runs conducted recently.
Director of the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment P Sivakumar told Express on Friday that with two of the Laser Homing Attack Missiles misfiring during tests, further tests with the tank could be held up until next summer if IAI is unable to deliver missiles conforming to the requirements of the Indian Army by this summer.
"Two missiles misfired during the test runs earlier this year. With end-user regulations calling for mandatory tests during summer, IAI may not be able to deliver corrected missiles during this summer. If that happens, further missile tests will be carried out only next summer," he pointed out. The Laser Homing Missile capability is one of the 19 major upgrades in the MK-II.
With imported components playing spoilsport in CVRDE's flagship project and comprising almost 60 per cent of the MBT, Sivakumar responded to a query on higher levels of indigenisation in the MK-II by pointing out that the small number of units ordered by the end user made it very difficult to reduce the percentage of imported components in the tank.
"The economics involved make it very difficult for us to incorporate a higher level of indigenisation. If the order is increased to 400 units from 120, the indigenisation level could be brought up to 70 per cent," he stated.
But the CVRDE has also embarked on a `380 crore project for a completely Indian-made power pack for Futuristic Main Battle Tanks. The FMBT power pack will pack a power output of 1,500 hp and is expected to be in production by 2022.
"We have brought out the first specifications and completed the feasibility study. We will be developing the technology for the project along with other partners like the DRDO, IIT-Chennai, Ashok Leyland etc," he said.
The Arjun MK-II has already completed three of the five user trials required to be undergone by the prototype.
