MoD clears purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Catapults

Neeraj Mathur

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Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Catapult



According to latest news coming in Defence Ministry has cleared procurement of 118 new Indian-built Arjun tanks that is likely to cost Rs.6,800 crore. This will be a repeat order for the Army. Indian Army already has 126 Arjun MK-1 tanks in its fleet .

Arjun MK-2 is still not cleared final rounds of Indian army tests but in recent test advanced laser warning countermeasure system and a mobile camouflage system was tested and proven on the Arjun MBT Mk.II in the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan and will go for final trials soon .

In major boost to Indian Armies self-propelled artillery systems requirements, Defence Ministry has cleared procurement of 40 Arjun Catapult which is a self-propelled gun (SPG) system which comprises of 130-mm M-46 towed gun integrated on Arjun Mk.1 main battle tank chassis.

Arjun Catapult is a stop gap measure which Indian Army at to reactivate previous Catapult artillery system, which was a conversion of ageing Vijayanta tanks fitted with the same Soviet M-46 gun. Arjun Catapult was reactivated after 'Bhim' self-propelled howitzer, where a Denel T6 turret was mounted on Arjun MBT chassis was developed and tested successfully and was also cleared for production But the project went awery after ban on Denel of South Africa which was developing the artillery system .

Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Catapult | idrw.org
 

indiatester

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Re: Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Ca

Nice!
Hopefully we will not see big purchases of T90s and shift our preferrence to Arjuns instead.
 

badguy2000

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Re: Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Ca

unit price is 10m USD.that makes arjun the most expensive tank in the world . its unit price is almost 2 times of M1a1 or 3 times of russia T90.
 

Rushil51

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Re: Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Ca

unit price is 10m USD.that makes arjun the most expensive tank in the world . its unit price is almost 2 times of M1a1 or 3 times of russia T90.
Did you calculate the price yourself? Or read it somewhere? Seem pretty high
 

suny6611

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Re: Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Ca

i do not follow much as i am from a/c back ground....

what does Catapult mean ?

is bofors gun also a Catapult....i know it is a towed & can move a bit on its own power.

Catapult means that it has a tank chassis ?

if so then can any field gun be made in this Catapult tank chassis....like a 155 mm ?
 

Neeraj Mathur

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Re: Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Ca

i do not follow much as i am from a/c back ground....

what does Catapult mean ?

is bofors gun also a Catapult....i know it is a towed & can move a bit on its own power.

Catapult means that it has a tank chassis ?

if so then can any field gun be made in this Catapult tank chassis....like a 155 mm ?
i hope this answers ur questions

Arjun Catapult 130-mm Self-Propelled Gun | Military-Today.com
 

arnabmit

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Re: Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Ca

No sir, Unit price is between 2.5-3mn USD. The rest of the cost is for supply chain and service infrastructure.

unit price is 10m USD.that makes arjun the most expensive tank in the world . its unit price is almost 2 times of M1a1 or 3 times of russia T90.
 

arnabmit

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Re: Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Ca

Catapult is a frugal solution to address the requirement of SPGH. It is basically the gun carriage of the 130mm M-46 towed howitzer mounted on a tank chassis. Previously the Vijayanta tank chassis was used, now it is the Arjun.

If required a 155x52 gun can be mounted on the chassis, however is not recommended, as Catapult is not a fully capable SPGH (lack of 360 degree traverse, NBC protection, etc.)

The one to look forward to is "BHIM" which is the Denel T6 turret mounted on the Arjun Chassis. Denel was previously blacklisted, but has been whitelisted now.

i do not follow much as i am from a/c back ground....

what does Catapult mean ?

is bofors gun also a Catapult....i know it is a towed & can move a bit on its own power.

Catapult means that it has a tank chassis ?

if so then can any field gun be made in this Catapult tank chassis....like a 155 mm ?
 

ALBY

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Re: Defence Ministry clears Purchase of 118 Arjun MK-2 and 40 Arjun Ca

The M46 gun used in this arjun catapult sysytem is consideredd to be one of the most reliable weapon sysytem in the whole army even though it is aged.Thats why it is still retained.My friend is a lieutanant in a M46 battery.
 

pmaitra

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Now, we need to make progress on the "Bhim," and see if we can get Denel on board, once the alleged bribe-money is paid back to the MoD, just like it happened with the Rolls-Royce bribery case. I don't like the open turret the current Arjun Catapult has, and the need for a large sized crew, where an auto-loader would make life simpler.
 

arnabmit

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As per Saurav Jha, BEML has now been asked to come up with BHIM proposal again. Let's see if BEML falls back on the 1999 prototype with Denel T6 turret or comes up with something new.

Now, we need to make progress on the "Bhim," and see if we can get Denel on board, once the alleged bribe-money is paid back to the MoD, just like it happened with the Rolls-Royce bribery case. I don't like the open turret the current Arjun Catapult has, and the need for a large sized crew, where an auto-loader would make life simpler.
 

sam29

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why only 118 Arjun if it was earler decided to replace T-72(older ones),and ther was no news of upgrading already 125 Mk1 in the inventory to mk2 standard ,is Arjun MK2 did not perform as per the expectation ?as compared Mk2 is compareable to latest best of the east and west ,apart from lahat missile problem ok which could be sorted may be in future some Mk2 A1 design ....o

ok catapult is good but why 130 mm when we can build 155mm , might be they are ready to give Denel order of some 500 turrets to build BHIM ,,lets see`
 

Kunal Biswas

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1. There were no news about upgrading MK1 to MK2, MK2 is yet to be put in user trails, There are serious problems with Army overhauling infrastructure as they are design for T-tanks not Arjun so the money is also for Overhauling facilities where tank is destined to be placed and this problem is also cause of lower number of Arjun orders, Once the overhaul facilities are upgraded for Arjun then only Army can order more Arjuns ..

2. It was a immediate need for Army to have SPGH, So we are watching 130mm being used instead of 155mm, BEML and other are being called to look into to re-make Bhim ..

why only 118 Arjun if it was earler decided to replace T-72(older ones),and ther was no news of upgrading already 125 Mk1 in the inventory to mk2 standard ,is Arjun MK2 did not perform as per the expectation ?as compared Mk2 is compareable to latest best of the east and west ,apart from lahat missile problem ok which could be sorted may be in future some Mk2 A1 design ....o

ok catapult is good but why 130 mm when we can build 155mm , might be they are ready to give Denel order of some 500 turrets to build BHIM ,,lets see`
 

hitesh

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Don't you think its too costly to put 130 mm artillery on these superior Arjun chassis that too with open top ,what the use of hi tech hydroponic suspension system if it is not going to fire on move ,what the use of superior Knachan armor if upper part is not immune to medium caliber ammunition . It seems to be case of under utilizing available resources at disposal .
 

arnabmit

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Howitzers never fire on the move.

130mm gun is a stop-gap solution till the time proper howitzers are inducted.

Don't you think its too costly to put 130 mm artillery on these superior Arjun chassis that too with open top ,what the use of hi tech hydroponic suspension system if it is not going to fire on move ,what the use of superior Knachan armor if upper part is not immune to medium caliber ammunition . It seems to be case of under utilizing available resources at disposal .
 

Bleh

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They should have uprated this to 155mm... even if the 118 Arjun Mark1A order goes through by some miracle, the 40 Arjun Catapult will be abandoned.
 

another_armchair

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They should have uprated this to 155mm... even if the 118 Arjun Mark1A order goes through by some miracle, the 40 Arjun Catapult will be abandoned.
Mate ATAGS with the Arjun chassis and we could have our desi PZH-2000, a definite beast.

I just hope IA doesn't demand mine ploughs and rotors on them and keeps changing the goalpost.
 

Bleh

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Mate ATAGS with the Arjun chassis and we could have our desi PZH-2000...
No, K-9 is already filling in that niche, but yeah I had upgraded 155mm M-46 (lightest one after ULH) in mind. That'd be extremely cost effective.
 

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