IDN TAKE: Main Battle Tank ARJUN: The Mighty Beast
by A.K Pandey
The army's opposition to the Arjun continued instead of the successful trials eliciting more orders, the Directorate General of Mechanized Forces (DGMF) demanded from the DRDO a long list of changes in the Arjun. For years, the DGMF argued that the 58-tonne Arjun was too heavy; that it would get bogged down in desert sands, bridges, and border roads culverts on Indian border roads. The army also complained the tank was too wide to be transported by the railways. This notion was comprehensively disproved during the comparative trials, when the Arjun proved more mobile than the lighter, 46-tonne T-90S, even on soft desert sand. A "third-party evaluation" done by Israeli Military Industries (IMI), which had developed the highly regarded Merkava tank, concluded the Arjun would outrun most tanks.
The Arjun Mk-2 variant developed by DRDO's Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) essentially grew out of the Indian Army's recommended upgrades post the Arjun Mk-I's comparative trials with the T- 90S which included among other things the incorporation of an anti-tank missile firing capability, an increase in penetrating power of ammunition used and the mounting of explosive reactive armor (ERA) panels. In order to comply with these requests besides generally updating the Mk-I design and making its assemblies more production friendly, CVRDE has made some 93 upgrades to the baseline Mk-I, including 13 major improvements such as the incorporation of an improved commander's panoramic sight, a track width mine plough, automatic target tracking, power driven air defense gun, advanced running gear system, final drive with reduction ratio, an improved slip ring, capability to fire new thermobaric ammunition, ERA, a laser warning countermeasure system, and a new auxiliary power unit (APU) generating in excess of 8 KW of power that is double that of the Mk-l's APU.
DRDO has dropped the Israeli LAHAT from its Arjun Mk-2 MBT plans due to uneven accuracy, smoke regurgitation from the anti-tank LAHAT missile into the firing compartment as it is fired through the main gun. DRDO is pursuing the Canon Launched Guided Missile (CLGM) being developed indigenously at the Defense Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL).
A DRDO developed commander's nonpanoramic thermal imaging sight for the T- 90S has also entered production with BEL and the Ordnance Factory Board. The T-90S will also use indigenous high accuracy fiber optic gyros developed by DRDO's Research Center Imarat (RCI) and feature fire control systems developed for the Arjun Mk-2. While continuing to argue that the Arjun was too heavy, the Directorate General of Mechanized Forces' demand for 73 modifications to the Arjun quite predictably resulted in the tank becoming even heavier. The army's demand for Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) to protect the crew added on one and a half tons. Another one and a half tons were added due to mine ploughs demanded by the Directorate General of Mechanized Forces, which churn up the ground ahead of the tank's tracks, unearthing buried anti-tank mines. Numerous other modifications, including a commander's panoramic sight, slapped on another two tons. From 57 tons, the Arjun now weighs 67 tons.
MBT Arjun fitted with mine plough
The Arjun Mk-2 is now held up by the army's insistence that it should fire an anti tank guided missile through its main gun, which is actually designed to fire armor piercing and high explosive shells. LAHAT missile, which has not proved successful, DRDO approached a Ukrainian design bureau has been approached for its combat missile. Demands accomplished by the DRDO - The driver has a seat which provides added protection in the eventuality of a mine blast. The front part of the chassis and the turret are fitted with an integrated explosive reactive armor (ERA) system. The all-round protection has been enhanced with the improved KANCHAN armor, a modular composite armor developed by India. It has been described as being made by sandwiching composite panels between Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA). This armor is able to defeat APDS and HEAT rounds and is believed to withstand APFSDS. The Arjun Mk-2 is equipped with epicycle transmission with hydrodynamic torque converter, mechanical lock-up clutch and hydrodynamic retarder with 4 forward and 2 reverse gears, a computerized day/thermal fire control system and a new panoramic sighting system for the commander is mounted right side of the turret roof. The system includes a laser range finder which has a hunter-killer capability.
Watch An Excellent Video on MBR ARJUN -
The gunner sight is fitted with an automatic target tracker which greatly enhances the speed and accurate target engagement capability of the tank. To increase the self-protection of the Arjun Mk-2, a laser warning and countermeasure system (ALWACS) developed in collaboration with the Israeli Company Elbit Systems is mounted on each side of the turret. The four ALWACS elements are mounted at each corner of the turret to provide 360-degree coverage. The system detects and classifies laser threats and fire smoke grenades from an independent rotary launcher. The front of the chassis equipped with a track width mine plough to give the vehicle the ability to rapidly force a passage through a mined obstacle by creating a cleared path for it tracks to follow. Standard equipment of the Arjun Mk-2 includes also a thermal night vision sight for the driver, and advanced land navigation system which provides Inertial and GPS-based navigation, NBC protection system, fume extractor system, auxiliary power unit and integrated fire detection and suppression system.
The turret and glacis are protected with Kanchan composite armor. Kanchan is made by sandwiching composite panels between Rolled Homogeneous Armor (RHA) which helps in defeating Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) and High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rounds. Trials were conducted in 2000 which showcased the ability of Kanchan armor to protect the tank when hit at point blank range by a T-72. It had also demonstrated the capability to defeat High-Explosive Squash Head (HESH) and APFSDS rounds, which included the deadly Israeli APFSDS rounds. A new honeycomb design of non-explosive and non-energetic reactive armor (NERA) along with nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) protection equipment, minesweepers and one automatic fire fighting system are incorporated on the Arjun Mark-2 variant. Signature reduction to bring down the probabilities of the object being detected by Infrared seekers and thermal radar bands are also being incorporated.
Arjun Mk-I and T-90S Trials
The missile firing capability requirement grew out of the fact that though the Arjun Mk-I with a score of 25.77 beat the T-90S with a score of 24.50 in the firepower criteria during the 2010 comparative trials if the T-90S's missile firing capability were to be kept aside, the T-90 fared marginally better in the overall final score primarily on account of its Invar missile firing capability. The comparative trials were on four parameters viz. fire power, survivability, reliability and miscellaneous issues of the tank with weightage of 40, 35, 15 and 10 respectively.
As per the trial report, MBT Arjun performed better than the T-90 tank in accuracy and consistency of firepower. "Arjun did better than Russian-origin T-90S tanks in comparative trials in 2010. But the Army keeps on changing its technical requirements. If it ordered around 500 Arjun, it would stabilize production lines." said a scientist. Importantly, the Indian Army concluded (April 2010) that "Arjun had performed creditably and it could be employed both for offensive and defensive tasks with same efficacy of T-90 tank".
Now if the Mk-I itself could do that, then the Mk-2 given its technology, will certainly do far better. In fact, in terms of both firepower and survivability, the Mk-I will easily surpass Eastern Block tanks with or without taking into account a missile firing capability. As such the Arjun Mk-2 is clearly something that the Indian Army should be using to out match Pakistani tanks, especially in the desert sector where the T-90S electronics and sights have been known to function erratically. But the Army is adamant it will not order 118 Arjun Mark-2 tanks, at a cost of Rs. 5,745 Crore, till the clear all operational trials. A senior People's Liberation Army (PLA) officer at its premier tank design institution, the Academy of Armored Forces Engineering in Beijing, told visiting Indian journalists that the Arjun tank is "very good", and well suited for Indian conditions.
Comptroller And auditor General of India (CAG) Report
The CAG raps the Army in this report on Arjun MBT. The CAG has revealed what was restricted to the corridors of MoD and hidden behind the secrecy of 'national interest'. An order was placed for additional T-90 tanks in November 2007 even as Army kept on adding its requirements for the Arjun, said the CAG.
The CAG, in its latest report, said there were eight instances in which Arjun in the comparative trial was judged against more stringent benchmarks parameters. "We noticed eight instances where the Army placed benchmark of parameters on Arjun which were more stringent in comparison to those placed on T-90 tanks... the imposition of more stringent parameters precluded a level playing field".
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India about the frequent changes in design leading to delay in development of MBT Arjun. The development of MBT prototype was to be completed by April 1982 but after going through several modifications in design, the prototype was cleared by the Army in 1998.
The reply does not take cognizance of the fact that even after clearing the production after acceptance of the prototype (1998), the designs continued to be re-worked for 12 years thereafter and frozen only in 2010. The most significant setback to the production of MBT Arjun was the change in requirements put forth by the Army in February 2007. It takes little imagination to conclude why the Army feels that the Arjun Mk-2 which is reaching a 67tonne weight does not meet its requirement for the future. Its basic features were conceived for a different era. A lighter tank made heavier by adding on armor and additional features can still be made to retain its character by getting a more powerful engine. A heavy tank may not be tolerant to be made lighter without the basic design going awry.
Dr. S Christopher, Director General, DRDO said, "Weight is slightly on the higher side. We presumed when informed about the additional requirement on Mk-I that weight will also be allowed additionally. Unfortunately, we missed the point." Elaborating further, he added, "Army says there are bridges where Mk-2 might find it difficult to move. This is the reason why we have developed the other bridge and made our tank go over it again and again when displayed at DefExpo. We are trying to tell the army that even if we may not be able to use it as it is everywhere, there definitely can be places where it can be used."
In 2008, the DRDO had also noted, "The major imported systems in the tank are the powerpack and gun control system from Germany and Delft-SAGEM gunner’s main sight from OIP Belgium. The percentage of import content is 60% in the first lot of 124 tanks to be produced, which will be reduced to under 45% with the manufacture of first 200 tanks and under 30% with the manufacture of about 500 tanks." This indicates that the Arjun tank, ironically, remains largely a foreign product, both in terms of value as well as critical systems.
Because of the problems with the refitted Arjun Mk-2, a new version of the Arjun is developed which became known as the Arjun Mk-3. The tank is built exclusively from the new high strength composites and alloys and was able to be armored far more effectively. It is slightly larger than the Arjun Mk-2 and has more powerful secondary weapons. The Arjun Mk-3 has on the sides of the turret four double launchers for short-range missiles. A more powerful gas turbine engine replaced the original engines to retain mobility with a larger tank.
Original problems with the Arjun Mk-I rose with the Mk-2 too, though the capabilities of the new tank have silenced critics and test personnel. Weight was an issue with the Arjun Mk-2, significantly heavier than the Arjun Mk-1, though the DRDO has dispelled comparisons with the T-90S. "T-90S and MBT Arjun tanks are of a different class. Both the tanks have their own special features. In MBT Arjun, we have more power to weight ratio, hydro-pneumatic suspension for better ride comfort and a stable platform to fire on the move, better quality class of Gun Control System and Fire Control System etc. Missile firing capability of Arjun was demonstrated. T-90S tank has missile firing capability and lower silhouette. Tanks of both the class are required by the Indian Army," the DRDO had said in 2008.
AK Pandey is an avid Defence enthusiast and a great fan of IDN. This piece on the MBT ARJUN was written by him exclusively for IDN. Views expressed are his own.
