Army reluctant to buy India-made Arjun tank, prefers Russian T-90S

The army continues to block the indigenous Arjun tank even though, in a comparative trial, conducted in the Rajasthan desert in March 2010, the Arjun proved equal to, or better than, the Russian T-90S

Although “Make in India” has been the central motif of the on-going Defexpo 2020 in Lucknow, the army continues to block further purchases of the indigenous Arjun main battle tank (MBT), years after it met all the army’s ever-increasing demands.

With the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) awaiting a long-cleared order for 118 Arjun MBTs, the ministry of defence (MoD) instead asked the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) last November to build 464 Russian-origin T-90S tanks at the Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi (HVF). 

With each T-90 costing about Rs 28 crore, the order is worth an estimated Rs 13,000 crore.

The army