http://orbat.com/site/jawan/april2004/Arjun.pdf
Arjun - Mighty warrior or a mere mortal Vishal Kansagra
21 March 2004
History has been witness to many epic battles, but no battles have been so decisive as any conflict between armour. Tanks have played a major role in any war since its invention during the First World War. Since then, tanks have become an integral part of an army- its size and role notwithstanding. Same was the case during wars of '65 and '71 between India and Pakistan. Both countries were engaged in massive armour battles on the Western front. At the end of that war, the Indian army realized the limitations of their tank fleet consisting of vintage Centurions, PT-76, T-55 and other assorted tanks in the harsh desert conditions of Rajasthan. Army required a tank, which could fight well in plains of Punjab as well as desert of Rajasthan. Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) belonging to the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) took on the job of designing this new MBT and came out with MBT-80, proof-of-concept vehicle in 1974. Three decades later the end product strongly resembles the Leopard II, thanks to inputs provided by various German firms. Many had criticized DRDO for its failure to deliver a credible tank to IA after so many
years of research. As one of the prominent writer said "DRDO has produced a lemon after all this years of research."
Since now the future of the Arjun is looking quiet promising, it would be prudent to provide the reader with details of all that went through to make the Arjun from a `lemon' to a fearsome MBT (Main Battle Tank).
History
Based on battlefield experiences, it was learnt that 105mm gun tend to lose power and accuracy at longer ranges. As these lessons were incorporated into the new MBT project, the Arjun was designed to have a 120mm rifled main gun. This gun has been indigenously developed by DRDO. One major concern was that of mobility. To rectify it, a 1,400 HP German engine was selected. As turbine engines are considered fuel-guzzlers, it was decided that Arjun would have a diesel powerplant. To enable Arjun to fire on the move, a digital fire control system (FCS) with a laser range finder was also included. One of the early 'Chetak' prototypes was unveiled to the public on Indian Republic Day, 26 January 1984. Another public rollout followed in April 1985, after which the name 'Arjun' became the official name. At the time, it was reported to have a German MTU-based 1400 HP diesel (until an indigenous one was ready), with a weight of 'about' 50 tons (act
ually 52, though the sketch concepts were around 40-45 tons) and a price tag of US $1.6 million (2 crore rupees, to total 15.5 crore for the whole project). Tank's FCS was based on the Marconi SFCS600, linked to a Barr & Stroud Tank Laser Sight and IR8 Thermal Imager. Meanwhile, Arjun development costs continued to rise, from October 1980 Rs. 56.55 crores to Rs 280 crores in May 1987. In 1993 the first six prototype tanks were handed over to the 43rd Cavalry Regiment for troop trials at Rajasthan's Mahajan range. Accuracy trials from mid-1994 indicated an erratic first hit ratio that ranged from 20-80%, though this was supposedly reduced to 90% during subsequent troubleshooting. At that point, the first production, Arjuns were projected to be in service by 1995. Years of fire-power and tactical tests on the firing ranges in desert and semi-arid conditions followed, until the Indian Army considered the results 'excellent'. The Pakistani deal with the Ukraine to purchase T-80UD/T-84's announced in the fall of 1995 caused another flurry of activity in the Indian military community. At that point, the Arjun had just failed field trials in June. More were set for August and November but observers figured that the US $ 100 million programme has progressed too far to be easily terminated. On 9 January 1996 the Arjun was formally unveiled and cleared for mass production in a ceremony presided over by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. According to Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the Indians consider the Arjun comparable to the M1A2 Abrams, Leopard 2 and Leclerc. However, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Shankar Roy chowdhury pointed out that, while some of the tank's parameters needed to be 'further finetuned', they have enough confidence to plan Arjun variants; mobile assault guns ('self-propelled platforms' or self-propelled artillery), Observation
Post Vehicle and Air Defence (Gun or Missile), recovery, engineer and bridgelayers. New bridgelayers and recovery vehicles would be necessary, given the Arjun's substantial weight increase over the T-72M1 series. Most of India's roads are in the 40 ton military classification range, save for national highways' 70 ton range. The 59-ton (58.5 tons) 15th Variant could achieve a maximum speed of 70 kph (55 mph) and cross-country of 40 kph with it's 1400 HP powerplant. The Arjun's hydropneumatic suspension can be hardened or softened, according to the terrain and the 1610 litre fuel tank allows for a cruising range of 200 km (120 miles). The 15 Pre-Production Series (PPS) tanks were supposed to be supplied t
o three armoured regiments for testing in 1996, but it wasn't until 27 August that the Defence Production and Supplies Secretary ordered them from the Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi (at which point, one Indian media estimate placed the project cost at US $ 112 million or 400 million Rupees). However, the Indian Defence Ministry's publicised cost for these 15 tanks was US $ 38.2 million (RI.62 billion). Delivery of the prototype lot was completed in April `97, field trials were again declared completed and series production was to start in early June '97. There were many problems to be answered one of them was that the technology transfer agreements for the imported engine, gun control system, fire-control system had most vendors (like MTU and Holland's Oldelft, which makes the LRS 5 Fire Control System) producing components in India in a phased manner. The production of 100 Arjun Mk.1 MBTs was expected to start by late 1997 (during the Ninth Defence Plan) at an estimated cost of US$ 2.8 million [Rs. 10 crores] each. A later claim by DRDO stated that it needed up to (Rs 1,800 crores) to produce 120 tanks over the next five years, with each one costing US $ 4.2 million [Rs
15 crores]. Another cost estimate figured that the Arjun will be over Rs 26 billion by 2001 for two or three regiments (124 tanks), totalling around US $5.6 million (Rs 200 million) per tank. This escalating estimate does not include the cost of ammunition, spares and engineering support for the Arjun's induction into service, which is estimated at over (Rs 5 billion). Country's progressively shrinking defence budget, coupled with the persistent technical problems, further delayed any serious Arjun serial production. In early August, 1997 General Shankar Roy Chowdhury, Army chief of staff, promised officers and soldiers of the 13th Armoured Regiment that the Arjun would enter production soon. Less than two months later, DRDO was shaken by the desertion of scores of military scientists and engineers lured to the more lucrative private sector, jeopardizing the success of the Arjun project. As of 18 September, the Indian Parliament approved a $6.9 Billion (250 billion Rupees) Five-Year Defence Budget. In this 1997-2002 budget, some 40 Billion Rupees has been allocated for the Ajeya (Indian name for T-72) rebuild programme, and another 1 Billion Rupees for the first 100 Arjuns. By early May, 1998, the US decision to impose sanctions on India could possibly have jeopardized the Arjun's further development, since some US companies were supplying elements of the main gun-sighting and fire- control systems for the Arjun tank. There was also speculation as to whether Germany would stop supplying MTU engines. Arjun Executive Board (AEB) narrowed their choices for an FCS to Thomson CSF and Elbit of Israel (which could also be used in the T-72M1 'Rhino'). The imported components used in the Arjun rose from 27% in the 1987 to 60% in PPS. (Pre-Production Series) enhancing the costs substantially. The Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the Summer 1997 trials, released in mid-1998, noted six premature transmission failures and frequent overheating of the transmission fluid, probably because the imported transmission assembly had been overloaded.
Teething problems
Even after crores had been spent on the project the future of Arjun looked very bleak since Army was not ready to accept Arjun until most of the problems had been sorted out. Pakistan acquired 315 T-80U from Ukraine and this was a cause of concern for Army, which needed a similar if not better MBT to counter T- 80U. They turned to T-90S from Russia, which was considered superior to T-80U. Field trials of T-90S began in 1999. At $ 3 million apiece, it was worth it. To many it looked like the last nail in Arjun's coffin. Arjun's list of problems read something like this: Arjun weighed 58 to
ns, while all the major national highways could only support weight upto 40 tons. Higher weight also meant that Arjun could not use the bridges designed to handle ~40 ton T-72M1. Old & inefficient MTU engine, which heated up frequently making Arjun unsuitable for deployment in Rajasthan. To counter overheating, a cooling pack was installed which reduced the ammo capacity & affected gun depression. Failure to develop an indigenous 1500 hp engine. Defective optics, especially commander's main sight. Problems with the FCS, which could not perform in temperatures above 42 Celsius. Poor operational mobility to due to its excessive weight and width. Problems with the commander's periscope sight, laser warning sight and muzzle reference sight. Transporting Arjun was a problem, as the 58-tonne tank protrudes 6cm beyond the permissible 3cm limit on either side of tank transporters used for India's current MBT, the T-72M1. Back from the dead if Arjun resembles something most from the mythology, its that bird which used to rise from its own ashes Phoenix.
Actually Arjun was always alive and DRDO was raring to go ahead and eliminate all the flaws that Arjun had and give a potent fighting machine to the Indian Army. They started solving all the problems one at a time. DRDO fixed the problems with mobility & engine heating thanks to Israel's help. DRDO teamed up with Israeli companies to develop a digital FCS. This FCS was extensively tested by Indian Army & duly accepted. Development of new & better optics by BEL. The MoD has allocated $3.9 million to build three transporter types to mobilise Arjun. Team Arjun has some more achievements to its credit. Some of them are listed below. Chromium lined barrel increases the barrel life & also the muzzle velocity of the shell. Arjun's armor was tested in combat like conditions and fared very well. It also withstood direct hits of APFSDS, HEAT, HESH & various RPG rounds as per the latest trials on September 2003. According to DRDO, the composite "Kanchan" armour gives Arjun a level of protection far better than other contemporary tanks. LAHAT ATGM has been test fired from Arjun. This was achieved by coating the round with rubber; the rubber coating burns off eliminating contact between the barrel and the round. As soon as the round leaves the barrel, rubber coating has burnt off. Due to this technique, rounds can be launched at higher velocities than possible with normal rifled barrels. LAHAT (Laser Homing Attack) with a range of 6km exceeds the capability of Refleks system on T-80UD/T-90S. Never before seen crew protection levels in tanks used by Indian Army. Crew protection is paramount and slight changes have been made here. The ammo storage is in the turret bustle but is modulated and separated from the crew by armor, so that if hit by RPG or top-attack ATGM, crew remains safe. Integrated GPS & BMS (Battlefield Management System). These systems have touch screen for rapid access. State-of-the-art night vision gear allowing the commander to identify targets at ranges more than 5km.
A new Active Area Defense System (AADS) from Elbit. Estimated cost of $ 4 million per piece.
Future
Rifled gun of Arjun gives it a very high accuracy coupled with the latest digital FCS. Currently Arjun can accommodate 39 main gun rounds. It is highly likely that revolving magazine like the one used by Merkava 4 will be incorporated in the later versions of Arjun. Magazine can be loaded with 10 rounds. This is considerably faster than the autoloaders used in other modern tanks, thereby Arjun will have a higher rate of fire. It is heard that India and Russia are jointly developing high-power propellant, which will generate lot more power than the one currently used. This coupled with the accuracy of main gun will give Arjun tremendous power at ranges exceeding 3km, which till now was the weakness of Russian tanks as their main guns tend to lose accuracy & power after 2.5km. Future of Arjun looks very bright. DRDO is much more confident now. The Arjun project has already given birth to several spin-offs namely the Tank Ex, Bhim 155 mm SP artillery vehicle and the Arjun BLT (Bridge- Layer-Tank). Thanks to modular construction, conversion from MBT configuration to SP Gun or BLT configuration is possible by quickly switching the turret on the chasis. Another spin-off is the Arjun turret mounted atop T-72 chasis. It is named Tank-Ex by DRDO (commonly known as Karna). Something that should be immediately apparent to the crew are the spacious fighting and driving compartments, in contrast to the T-72 Ajeya's cramped interior, although it must be noted that a crew of four is carried. The ergonomics are designed from the anthropometrical data of Indian troops. With a super charged 1500 HP engine, the tank has a high power to weight ratio at a combat weight of 58.5 tons and a low ground pressure of 0.84 kgf/cm², speed of 70 km/h on road. Arjun has really come of age & turned into a mighty warrior and is a fitting reply to all those who have criticized DRDO for nothing but "a bunch of jokers".
