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| Arjun Mk1 Tank (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
New Delhi has so far failed to successfully mass-produce an indigenously developed modern main battle tank.
The majority of India’s indigenously developed third generation Arjun main battle tanks have been grounded due to technical issues and missing spare parts, Defense News reported last week.
Originally supposed to enter service in the Indian Army in the 1980s, the Arjun MK-I program has witnessed repeated delays due to an inadequate design concept (e.g. too much heavy armor versus too little horsepower) partially based on the German Leopard II main battle tank and a flawed procurement and testing process.
Defense News quotes an Indian official who stated that “nearly 75 percent of the 124 [Arjun] tanks with the Army are grounded.” All in all there are more than 90 technical issues. “The problems in the Arjun tank are mainly confined to its transmission system, targeting and thermal sights,” the defense official noted.
Originally, more than 50 percent of components of the tank were imported, but this percentage has gradually diminished as various parts have been replaced by indigenous designed systems. Yet the tracked vehicle still requires foreign hardware to function and those supplied have dried up, according to the official.
Read the full story at The Diplomat