Light tanks for Indian Army

[shuvo@y2k10]

Abhay IFV hull alone will be 20-22T,on that Tank Ex 13 T turret? That will be 35T, army requirement is 22T only
And if a light tank of 35-36T category to be made then it's better to use ERA enfored T-55 hull.... It will give better protection...

Both tank ex turret and abhay ICV hull are indegeneous designs. T-55 is a russian design and russia will object any tampering with it as it had done in case of tank-ex with it. Use of HNS steel and modern Kanchan ceramic armour can reduce the weight of the hull of Abhay ICV (First prototype in 2005) to some extent. Also to counter a 30-35 ton chinese tank we need a similar vehicle. 22 ton weight reuirement is being quoted in the media without any official confirmation and hence may not be true.
Aagain I must say the Tata FICV hull looks promising but I am guessing it draws experience from Abhay ICV project as tata is already collaborating with VRDE on Whap platform.

 

[aditya g]

I find the whole concept of a "Light Tank" to be a total oxymoron. Whats a tank worth if it is not armored and doesnt have a proper gun? Why not simply stick to tracked and wheeled IFVs, coupled with ATGM Namicas to take out enemy tank?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

1948 : Having successfully commissioned the tanks at this height, the assault began on November 1, 1948. The very appearance of the tanks utterly dampened the morale of the bewildered Pakistanis who either fled or were vanquished. Once Zojila was taken, the road to Kargil was reopened and Ladakh was safe. Ultimately, on November 24 Kargil was re-taken. Thus the unofficial 1st Indo-Pak War (and perhaps the longest and toughest of them all) ended in success owing to the bold, shrewd and relentless pursuit led by Gen. Thimayya. In the process, Gen. Thimayya emerged as the finest tactician among his contemporaries.

1962 : AMX-13 Tanks of 20 Lancers in Chushul area, October 1962. After pushing Indian troops back from Galwan, Demchok, Sirijap posts in Ladakh region during the 1962 war, the Chinese forces advanced toward Chusul sector, which housed an all-weather airfield. To defend the sector, reinforcements were sent. Two troops of AMX-13 tanks of 20 Lancers were airlifted to Chushul airfield by IAF’s Antonov-12 transport aircraft. The tanks played a significant role in breaking the Chinese attack at Gurung Hill in the western theatre on 18th November 1962. The Chinese force was blunted entirely by the effectiveness of the tanks and artillery fire. Eventually, the airfield was defended and it remained in the Indian hands. For IAF, flying-in the tanks was a major achievement.

In Indian context, during wartime, tanks play a vital role in both offensive and defense warfare over mountains, In both case we were victorious, Tank vs tank engagement are very rare they are mostly used as long range fire-support, for that we can study both 1948 and 1962 campaigns involving tanks ..

Now, In today`s context the need is even more when enemy has assets of mech forces ( IFV and tanks ) on other side of the border, Their are roads which cannot support T-72M1 at northeast and Ladak but BMP-2 ..

I find the whole concept of a "Light Tank" to be a total oxymoron. Whats a tank worth if it is not armored and doesnt have a proper gun? Why not simply stick to tracked and wheeled IFVs, coupled with ATGM Namicas to take out enemy tank?

 

[binayak95]

I find the whole concept of a "Light Tank" to be a total oxymoron. Whats a tank worth if it is not armored and doesnt have a proper gun? Why not simply stick to tracked and wheeled IFVs, coupled with ATGM Namicas to take out enemy tank?

Because NAMICA, while being a great system to deal with enemy tanks, is 1. Expensive; 2.limited no of rounds per system. 3. Ineffective against infantry.

What do you expect will attack Indian positions in the High Himalayas? Enemy tanks and IFVs? Not a chance. Infantry supported by artillery and light choppers is far more likely.

A tracked or wheeled IFV with a good cannon (even perhaps the L7A1 of the famed Vickers) would perform extremely well against these types of threats. As a plus, those HESH rounds would pulverize enemy bunkers and fortifications.

I would infact argue for a Kestrel armed with an unmanned 105 mm turret.

Something like the Stryker MGS.

 

[AVERAGE INDIAN]

a heavily modified T-55 called the Jaguar, made by Cadillac Gage if cost effective either Tata or leyland can finish the upgrade in record time since we have good no of reserve T55 tanks if not we can use this design to upgrade our T 72 even T90's. I believe the US will have no objection transferring the design blue prints to india we can use our indigenous content amour electronic's engine etal .

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Its still going to weight more than 30tons ..

If we have to upgrade T-55, We should done at home and refine and expand our own Industry, R&D..

Unlike during project Rhino, Russians are not competing to upgrade T-55s, Pakistan has its own version of T-55 upgrade and its in service so does Ukrainian are selling their own version of the tank.

a heavily modified T-55 called the Jaguar, made by Cadillac Gage if cost effective either Tata or leyland can finish the upgrade in record time since we have good no of reserve T55 tanks if not we can use this design to upgrade our T 72 even T90's. I believe the US will have no objection transferring the design blue prints to india we can use our indigenous content amour electronic's engine etal .

 

[AVERAGE INDIAN]

Its still going to weight more than 30tons ..

If we have to upgrade T-55, We should done at home and refine and expand our own Industry, R&D..

Unlike during project Rhino, Russians are not competing to upgrade T-55s, Pakistan has its own version of T-55 upgrade and its in service so does Ukrainian are selling their own version of the tank.

Kunal Bhai I think if given a chance like 3 t55 tanks each, either use the design for new tank or MOD it with light weight amour/materials each to Leyland and Tata or partner with sweden , I think they can come up with tanks like
CV90-120T. which stands between 26 to 36 tons(fully armored). the sweedes will have no issues helping us in current scenario since their defence industry is looking more into Indian market.

 

[shuvo@y2k10]

Another concept for light tank. An old arjun prototype (in the mid 80's ) with 105 mm main gun weighing about 40-45 tons with heavy steel armour. Use of lightweight high strength titanium alloys, aluminium alloys and a composite hull i.e technologies perfected for abhay icv and some ERA/ NERA protection if implemented will bring the weight to 35-40 tons similar to the chinese light tank. No need for a new design when a tank with 105 mm gun is already available.

 

[Tactical Frog]

What is the status of this RFI for light tanks ? Lost in the limbos ??? Pardon my curiosity.

 

[Aghore_King]

What is the status of this RFI for light tanks ? Lost in the limbos ??? Pardon my curiosity.

RFI is not released yet.........

 

[Vinod DX9]

Any update on Light Tank RFI or it is now merged to FRCV one?

 

[Papai Mondal]

Or fit a 120mm gun on our WHAP

 

[bengalraider]

Wrote a bit on the Light Tank requirement on Twitter , do read !
My twitter thread on the same
Threadreader app page on my thread

 

[ARVION]

This is the worst decision Indian Army has taken...
What was wrong with 105 mounted BMP when Indian Army is accepting a BMD mounted gun..

I was thinking such a proposal to be a joke.. up engined Vijayant would have been thousand times better.. today it is one regiment of SPURT for DBO. tomorrow there would one more regt for North Sikkim.. then two Regts for amphibious operations ...

this certainly a bad decision..

Bhadra ji , there could be two tank's version of Vajra one of same weigh category of T 72's and other a much lighter caliber Uknown probably 105 mm 8n the realm of 37 to 40 tonne's , but take my post with an truckload of salt .

 

[ARVION]

I was wondering on why couldn't we buy the k-21 light tank.

View attachment 54241

Since we are already bulding k-9 vajra in the L&T factory we could prevent the factory from closing by asking them to start making these after some modifications.

I think the specs for this are better too.

The only reason I feel the army is going for spurt without any consideration for other orders is that we want instant delivery meaning we will most probably get second hand tanks.

The spurt d is just a stop by still our's Vajra light tanka version comes to service's .

 

[ARVION]

@Bhadra ji , now I can say 100 percent sure that there are going , to be two versions if the Vajra tank's one would be a Heavy 45 Tonne's tank's and the second one would be a light with 35 tonne's and sufficent HP engine packages for the light tank's .

Contact Support

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

Indian army urgently needs 300 air transportable tanks.

Ladakh standoff: DRDO weighs options to make indigenous light tanks

Ministry had planned to import such tanks to counter possible attack by Chinese troops

www.business-standard.com

Currently Sprut SDM1 is manufactured by Volgograd Tractor Plant (as per wikipedia).

2S25 Sprut-SD - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

India is currently manufacturing T-90 tanks at Heavy Vehicle Factory (HVF) at Avadi, India.

T-90 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Why not make Sprut SDM1 tanks in India (under license from Russia)?

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

Someone is criticizing K9- Drdo turret hybrid tank saying it will be expensive.

DRDO- L&T team might develop K-9 Chassis based Light Battle Tank

The Indian army going in for fast track purchases to meet equipment shortfalls. On the list is a requirement for up to 300 air-transportable light tanks.

www.defenceaviationpost.com

 

[Abhijeet Dey]

 

[Killswitch]

The Armoured need the following:

A universal tracked chassis
A universal wheeled chassis

Basically what the Russians did with the Armata.

Instead, there is T72, T 90 Arjun, BMPs, K9, etc.

The IA is terrible at planning and standardization. The mismanagement is so bad its depressing to think about.

I wish someone would take charge, choose the platforms, and build on them, but there seems to be no political will to do so.