Ministry of Defence orders 118 Arjun tanks for over Rs 7,000 crore

'Atmanirbhar Bharat' boost, will benefit 200 Indian firms, create 8,000 jobs

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on Thursday that it has placed an order with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for 118 indigenous Arjun Mark 1A main battle tanks (MBTs) for the army.

The Arjun Mark 1A has been developed by the Central Vehi­cles Research and Develop­ment Establishment (CVRDE) in Chennai — a Defence Rese­arch & Development Organisa­tion (DRDO) laboratory — and will be manufactured in the OFB’s Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi.

“This production order to HVF, Avadi opens up a large avenue in defence manu­fact­uring for over 200 Indian ven­dors including MSMEs (micro, small and medium enter­pri­ses), with employment oppor­tunities to around 8,000 peo­ple,” an MoD statement said.

“The order, worth Rs 7,523 crore, will provide a further boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative in the defence sector and is a big step towards achie­ving ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said the MoD.

The army already operates 124 Arjun Mark 1 MBTs, which amounts to two tank regim­ents. It has stoutly resisted ordering more, arguing that the 62.5-tonne tank was too heavy to be transported over bridges and culverts near the border.

Eventually, in a tank-ver­sus-tank face-off in the Raj­a­s­than desert in March 2010, one squadron (14 tanks) of Arjuns was pitted against an equal number of Russian T-90 tanks, which the army wants to buy more of. Top army generals who witnessed the trial admit­ted the Arjun performed super­bly. Whether driving cross-country over rugged sand dunes or accurately hitting targets with its powerful main gun, the Arjun matched and outdid the T-90.

Yet, the army refused to ord­er more Arjuns, beyond the 124 already in service. At a meeting of the MoD-led Arjun Steering Committee in 2010, the army demanded 72 capability enhancements to improve the Arjun Mark 1 into what would be called the Arjun Mark 2.

Incredibly, given the army’s complaint that the Arjun Mark 1 was too heavy, these 72 en­han­cements would make it 6 ton­nes heavier. These included the fitment of mine ploughs (1.6 tonnes extra), explosive reactive armour (1.5 tonnes extra), sus­p­ension improvements (one ton­ne extra) and two more tonnes in other areas. The 62.5 tonne Arjun Mark 1 was to be trans­lated into a 68.5 tonne Mark 2.

In June 2012, the DRDO offered the Arjun for trials with all the enhancements, except one: a cannon-launched guided missile (CLGM) that the army wanted to fire through the Arjun’s main gun. The Israeli Lahat CLGM that equipped the Arjun could strike targets two-to-five km away. However, the army insisted the CLGM must strike targets as close as 1.2 km, even though the Arjun’s power­ful main gun was adequate to destroy such targets.

By 2015, a series of trials had validated the improvements the army demanded. However, the army dilly-dallied for three years, until March 2018, when it was agreed that the next batch of Arjuns, which would be supplied without missile firing capability. They would be designated Arjun Mark 1A.

After several months of de­lay, Arjun Mark 1A trials were held in December 2018 and the tank found fit in all respects. The army’s trial team recommended the Arjun Mark 1A be inducted into service. Yet, it has taken almost three more years for an order to be placed.

“The state-of-the-art (Arjun Mark-1A)… is infused with 72 new features and more indige­nous content from the Mark-1 variant… By virtue of these cap­abilities, this indigenous MBT proves to be at par with any con­temporary in its class across the globe. This tank is particularly configured and designed for Indian conditions and hence it is suitable for deployment to protect the frontiers in an eff­ec­t­ive manner,” said the MoD.

From the time the indent is placed, it would still take HVF 36 months to start delivering the first Arjun tanks. Since the DRDO is confident it would develop and prove the CLGM by then, the 118 Arjun Mark 1A tan­ks ordered today will actu­a­lly be delivered as Arjun Mark 2, with full CLGM capability.