Indian Army (IA): Equipment and News

The Indian army has received remotely operated BMP-2
17.08.2009

The Indian army has received the first remotely operated vehicle of national development, which can be used for patrolling, detection of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and mines, the Defense News. Established on the basis of Russia's infantry fighting vehicles BMP-2, a prototype of the military handed over for testing.

As the publication explained, reconnaissance vehicle equipped with a wired control system, consisting of electro-mechanical controls and controls operator, which include radio transmissions, brakes, steering, clutch, parking brake, and other elements. Transmitted vehicle information is displayed using the graphical user interface.

Developer of the new machine is one of the bodies of defense research and development of India (DRDO), specializing in wheeled caterpillar equipment for ground troops. As the representative of DRDO, novelty can be a promising precursor unmanned tank.

Права на данный материал принадлежат Lenta.ru

India intends to spend $7 billion on artillery
31/08/2009

Prolonged standing in the program of modernization of the armed ground forces of India 155-mm howitzer FH-77B 39-gauge to the standard 45-caliber is under threat because of the high demands controlled artillery. India bought 410 howitzers in 1987. Aim pursued modernization is to increase the range of target shooting and allowing heavier ammunition. Improvement Program includes the replacement of the barrel, bolt, strengthening the chassis and equipped howitzers modern sighting system. Despite the fact that a number of artillery fire management acknowledged that the request is practically not feasible, the command is not in a position to review or change the specification, since it has the right only the Minister of Defense.

This specification, prepared by the Ministry of Defense, in 2006, remained unfulfilled. Earlier this year, the defense establishment has published an amended specification, however, BAE systems, which is a manufacturer of FH-77B, refused to respond to it by reason of impossibility of performance requirements. Of the 12 private Indian companies with permission to manufacture defense products, proposals submitted only Tata and the manufacturers of rocket and artillery weapons (OFB).

In accordance with the approved plan of modernization of Indian Army Field Artillery in the planning period from 2015 to 2020 to import and assemble at its plants by about 3600 howitzers, most of which amount to 155-mm towed, wheeled and tracked guns having a barrel 52 caliber. In addition, we plan to have in service about 400 FH-77B 45-caliber and 180 of Russia's 130-mm field guns, M-46, recently upgraded by the Israeli company Salt. Total project cost procurement of artillery systems intended to re-up to 220 artillery regiments, could reach nearly $ 7 billion, said ARMS-TASS.

Права на данный материал принадлежат Известия.ru.

Not related to russia but found out there is IA RFI that would want to upgrade their existing BMP-2/2K TO BMP-2M standards and guess what the RFI asks for exactly what the two link shows you , So we would eventually have a BMP-2M upgrade

RFI --> http://indianarmy.nic.in/writereaddata/RFI/26/rfi131109.pdf

http://www.primeportal.net/apc/yuri_pasholok/bmp-2m_w_kornet/index.php?Page=1
http://www.interarms.ru/arhiv/n1_2010/kbp-designed_modernized_fighting_compartment_of_the_bmp-2_-_an_efficient_way_of_upgrading_armoured_vehicles1/

Seem Indian T-72 uses 2 new FSAPDS round one from Israel and one developed by DRDO

MK2 FSAPDS 125mm from DRDO is under protection and also, IMI 125 mm APFSDS was also under production at OFB.
DRDO ammo, fair improvement in performance
https://2img.net/r/ihimg/photo/my-images/707/scan0078.jpg/
Israeli ammo license produced at OFB while MK2 got ready
http://ofbindia.gov.in/products/data/ammunition/lc/37-MM-FSAPDS-MARK-I.jpg

well ,this is lot of fire power indeed,we can make the hell out of pakis with this kudos to mod

india is doing some serious modernisation

New strike corps for China border

In 2009, New Delhi acted decisively in sanctioning two new army divisions, about 35,000 troops, to strengthen Indian defences in Arunachal, which China claims as a part of Tibet. It can now be revealed that New Delhi has also sanctioned a new mountain strike corps, of an additional 40,000 soldiers, to be permanently located in bases in northeast India. The new corps is to retaliate against any major Chinese ingress into India by launching an offensive into Tibet.

The new mountain strike corps will control two divisions, trained and equipped for an attack into Tibet. If China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) captures any Indian territory, by quickly concentrating an attacking force over Tibet’s impressive road network, the Indian Army would not be forced into bloody, Kargil-style counterattacks to recapture that territory.

It would also be supported by Indian Air Force (IAF) fighters, operating from newly renovated bases in northeastern India. On July 26, the then IAF chief confirmed that Sukhoi-30 fighters had already been posted to air bases at Tezpur and Chhabua.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/new-strike-corps-for-china-border/446854/

BTW location of Arunachal on India map
Image Source: http://www.nkjlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/arunachalP1.JPG / Google Maps

http://www.itar-tass.com/c9/390764.html

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-12/india/31330890_1_psu-bharat-dynamics-indigenous-arjun-tanks-avadi-heavy-vehicles-factory

Is this true? The numbers are huge:

25,000 Invar missiles. (Refleks)
66,000 APFSDS rounds
10,000 Konkurs-M

Deal is around 1.2 billion dollars all things considered.

This is huge, any Indian member want to comment?

Well that will be good income for the Russian ammo makers.

Of course if they are ordering for the upgraded T-72s and T-90Ss they have in service then they wont be selling their latest ammo... the new longer APFSDS rounds designed for the new gun for the T-90AM that operate at slightly higher pressures.

25,000 gun tube launched ATGMs is a good number as well... hopefully they use the funds to upgrade their production facilities and also improve the missiles themselves.

A main gun mounted in a tank is not going to be able to elevate more than 22-23 degrees but by using the terrain it should be possible to increase that elevation.

I rather expect that in its external mount the gun on the Armata will be able to elevate higher and lower than current main guns to allow perhaps extended range engagements with lofted missiles. The added advantage of a lofted trajectory is that the missile would come in at a steeper angle which would negate the effect of angled armour plate so it would have less armour to penetrate, with the added advantage of a high flight path and steep dive onto the target making obstructions like trees and wires less of an obstacle.

It is important to note they are talking about anti armour ammo, so APFSDS rounds, Svir ATGMs and AT-5 ATGMs, so locally produced HE shells are clearly not in short supply.

I wonder if they are considering an order for Kornet-EM... its performance looks very very good on paper and its wireless control method would make it ideal for armoured vehicle and helicopter and even fixed wing use from manned and unmanned aircraft.

With automatic target tracking the guidance accuracy will be much better than manually tracked systems especially if the launch platform comes under fire and has to evade.

I am surprised that India hasn't chosen to create a joint venture with Russian companies to design a diving top attack fire and forget missile that can be launched from a 125mm smooth bore gun... it wouldn't need to be very big in terms of calibre because a diving top attack weapon is attacking the thin top armour of vehicles which is traditionally thin and vulnerable because it is normally do difficult to target properly.

Radar guided Hellfire and Brimstone missiles prove an active radar seeker in MMW radar frequency can be mass produced cheaply, though they are 152mm calibre weapons.

A decent small MMW radar seeker would be a very handy thing too, for missiles and even bombs.

Russian sources for a while now have been blaming the supposedly bad accuracy of Indian T-90s on sub-par ammunition made domestically. This might be vindication of that...

10,000 Konkurs surprises me, did not know they have that many launchers.

Well poor accuracy with domestic APFSDS rounds is not much of a surprise... it is not the easiest thing to get right... considering they both use the same calibre I would think they would get together and develop new ammo in a joint venture... a new system to replace/upgrade ANIET, a new missile with fire and forget diving top attack flight profile and a new APFSDS.

The thing is however that without the joint venture all this time the Russians have been working on their own and are probably getting the products they want already.

The vast majority of their existing fleet has a similar gun to the gun they used in the 1980s, but their upgrades of T-72s and existing T-90s and new T-90s and Armatas means that most of their fleet, both operational and in reserve will have newer gun types able to handle higher pressure ammo that has been more recently developed, so the older lower pressure shorter penetrator designs will be made for export only.

I am surprised they spent money on buying Konkurs... I would think in those sorts of volumes that it might be more efficient to buy a licence to licence produce them. Of course the plan might be to buy some now and then in a few years pick a replacement and licence produce that instead.

Hey TR1 . Am sorry , was out of town for sometimes so did not check the forum threads on a regular basis . Yes, it is true that India is importing $1 billion worth of hardware from Russia . However, it's not just munitions but a couple of T 90S as well . Since the previous Army chief has raised an alarm bell about the lacuna in India's defense preparation India is now running from pillar to post to buy defense hardware .

I hear Ukraine is trying to sell Anti Tank Missiles to India and India may even procure BVRAAM from Ukraine ( though the seekers for these missiles are designed in Russia).

Apart from the ones that you have highlighted , Russia is also competing for India's $2.2 billion dollar QR-SAM program. Russia is fielding the TOR M1 9M330 . The other competitors are Rafael-IAI SpyDer, an upgraded version of Raytheon's MIM-23 Hawk or modified SLAMRAAM , MBDA - Maitri.

Ok here is some official information from Indian Army on the planned upgrade for T-90 Bhishma and T-72 , you can read the entire interview here but quoting the relevant part.

T-90

As the mainstay of the armoured fleet, the T-90 Tank is slated to receive state-of-the-art upgrades to maintain its dominance on any future battlefield. These modernisation schemes include an active protection system, improved Commander’s thermal imaging sights providing true ‘hunter-killer’ capability, an advanced muzzle reference system for retention of zeroing both by day and night and necessary software upgrades to optimise the capabilities of the fire control system. In addition to a modernised digital fire detection and suppression system, the tank will also be fitted with an environmental control system to ensure longevity of sensitive opto-electronic sub-systems. A project for fitment of an auxiliary power unit to enhance ‘silent watch’ capability and conserve engine life is also under way. As regards digitisation of the future battlefield, we plan to fit the digital control harness. In addition, the Army is considering introduction of a software defined radio (SDR) which will ensure real time data, voice and image transfer. The SDR hierarchy will also support the battlefield management system (BMS) being developed indigenously.

T-72

Tank T-72 comprises the majority of our tank fleet today. These are of 1972 vintage and need to be modernised to enhance their mission reliability. With this in view, we are in the process of replacing the existing engine with a more powerful engine, incorporating an auxiliary power unit, fitting a thermal imaging fire control system for the gunner with suitable night enablement for the driver and commander also. Other upgrades include the digital control harness and modernisation of the fire suppression system. To provide necessary realism to training; simulators for drivers, gunners and an integrated crew simulator for the crew are in various stages of introduction.

To me it seems the T-90 Upgrade program maps 90 % of what T-90MS provides except perhaps for the newer Gun and Relikt but not sure of they would replace the K-5 with Relikt.

What missing on T-90MS is APS which Indian T-90 will have.

The T-72 upgrade similarly includes all that Russian T-72BA upgrade program has except for new FC system but FCS upgrade for T-72 was planned not sure if its already done.

All in All T-90 and T-72 will have a long life of 2 decades in the Indian Army after these upgrade are done by this decade.

Meanwhile IA seems not keen to add more Arjun Mk2 in its inventory , Good Details on Arjun Mk2 program the real problem seems to be Weight , with those weight Arjun Mk2 seems to be all dressed but no where to go.

Check out also the excellent interview on Arjun Mk2 by its developer CVRDE has good details on the program

India's Arjun Mk.2 Tank Revealed


One interesting thing they have done with Arjun Mk2 due to its increased weight of 67 T with Mine plough ( without it would be ~ 65 T ) was to keep its ground pressure low.

What they did was to increase track width compared to Arjun Mk1 which has low ground pressure compared to T-90 but some one mentioned on Bharat Rakshak that increasing track width come with problem of wheels getting dislodged quite often and are more prone to ground mine per density since large track means more exposed area on ground.

Good stuff.

I am sure Bharat Rakshak is full of fanboys crying about "tincans" now, lmao.

I wouldn't worry about mine problems with slightly wider track, an appropriate mine plow will solve any issue. Though at the same time T-90 has extensive testing and operational use in sandy environments ranging from Africa to India to Central Asia, so I doubt its ground pressure is an issue

TR1 wrote:I am sure Bharat Rakshak is full of fanboys crying about "tincans" now

You bet ....Arjun has always been a blue eyed boy of Bharat Rakshak and T-90 of Indian Army

I wouldn't worry about mine problems with slightly wider track, an appropriate mine plow will solve any issue. Though at the same time T-90 has extensive testing and operational use in sandy environments ranging from Africa to India to Central Asia, so I doubt its ground pressure is an issue

Well if you check comments of nelson on BRF , he had mentioned that increasing trackwidth comes with its own sort of problem which is increased displacement of wheel from track and increased vulnerability of tank from mines for the same area.

I think if increasing track is a simple solution then all western and russian tank would have gone for it after all every one needs low ground pressure.

Check this
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=WmbfjKRcQDkC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=stopping+power+minefield+tank+track+width&source=bl&ots=PkOWD4oBlB&sig=YmJ4EfUItLnIz9TS2uz6WkUDgUA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2S4mUKrMBobNrQeFy4HQAw&ved=0CEoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=stopping%20power%20minefield%20tank%20track%20width&f=false

There would be some kind of trade off involved , most latest western tank have ground pressure around 0.9 or 1 plus.

Seems like its coming to unravel IA is planning to buy 354 new T-90MS

http://ajaishukla.blogspot.in/2012/11/army-scuttles-arjun-trials-to-push.html

Awesome news if true.
Good way for India to get some new Russian APFSDS rounds as well.


I can hear Bharat-Rakshak crying in the distance.

Nice to hear the T-90SM will get some export orders... this should make it more attractive on the export market and domestically as it should reduce the price...

Interesting....but we should wait for confirmation I guess. Although they make it sound like the decision has been taken.

Seems like its coming to unravel IA is planning to buy 354 new T-90MS

http://ajaishukla.blogspot.in/2012/11/army-scuttles-arjun-trials-to-push.html

Oh, what pleasure. what we have here ?
Our dear ex Col. Ajai Shukla who return the the attack of the hated T-90S (and of the "inept and corrupt" Indian Army's Gotha) with its ,at best ,imaginative thesis


We are still all anxiously hanging on ,since more than two years and half, the names of any Indian Army's official confirming a single word of its reconstruction of the comparative trial of Arjun and T-90S of Febraury 2010.

Above all because that will allow our Ajai to render aware of the facts....the same DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article110458.ece


Moreover DRDO could adjourn the news of its own journal and finally announce that its product had offered better in-field performances in respect to the imported T-90S; but you know to claim OFFICIALLY a similar thing on your product the fact must happen and this is not a secondary detail ...


Naturally,in the meantime, our Ajai would have perhaps managed to find a way to distinguish a T-90 from a T-72 (a MBT on which it has supposedly operated !!!).
Brief advice for the really knowledgeable persons in MBT field : do NOT read the elementary school allegations produced by our Shukla in this "article", it can be very harmful for your cardiovascular health.

http://ajaishukla.blogspot.it/2008/08/more-pictures-from-georgia-of-t-72-and.html


Its great luck is that Uralvagonzavod don't care, or maybe to even know, of its microscopic niche of lobbying against Russian products(in particular Uralvagonzavod's T-90S) in favour of American-built ones also also because up to this time, it has failed in its work
The other reason is that even the mere attention by part of Uralvagonzavod with an official response could offer to it that degree of "relevance" or "legitimation" that is negated to it by the same indifference of the same Indian Army representaives



Is my firm convinction that must exist a sort of largely shared genetic heritage between this Colonel and another ,by now, infamous Colonel : the legendary Col. Fornof In facts both are : almost totally obvlious of any technical knowledge (the Su-30MKI with Tumansky engines and the MiG-21 Bison with Elta radar are true immortal pearls) an incredible creativity in reconstruction of the facts (Fornof's overturning of the Red Flag 2008 events are one of the most comical samples of clumsy intellectual dishonesty of whole history) and both are cited as a source by a mountain of naive or scarcely informed secondary sources.

This Shukla guy is a nobody . He is in the payroll of US defense contractors . His posts lack credibility and are written only to please his masters.

Mindstorm wrote:
Naturally,in the meantime, our Ajai would have perhaps managed to find a way to distinguish a T-90 from a T-72 (a MBT on which it has supposedly operated !!!).

You kidding me Mindstorm . FYI - He could NOT locate night fighting devices on the T 72.

Whenever a reader questions his ill found logic on his blog he vents out his frustration by either humiliating them or he simply does NOT responds . Why ... you ask ? Obviously he doesn't have an answer .

The only way to make Shukla happy is to import JSF that way he will stop accusing the Generals being corrupt ...surely he finds no flaws with JSF and is more that happy to propagate what LM has to say about it ....such a Hippocratic Jurno

The only way to make Shukla happy is to import JSF

Probably it aim to emulate ,in future, the luminous ,fulminating carreer of Trevor J. Thomas in Australia : from Editor-in-Chief of this magazine


http://198.170.107.43/download/Features%20Articles/V25N9_Air7000A.pdf


(Little note : if you ask to yourself if its friend and Features Editor, Abraham S Gubler, is the same guy you can unluckly cross on some forum , yes it is ,that by itself should provide several responses about the otherwise inexplicable degree of blind bias, to the limit of the self-rib, you can see in its positions about US products )


to its appointment ,by part of Lockheed Martin as the new Head of Asia-Pacific Communications department ......


http://www.lockheedmartin.com/au/news/press-releases/2011-releases/0112-thomas.html

Intelligenti pauca.





Returning to our Ajai Shukla , Austin has someone ever ,up to this point, asked to it to provide a single OFFICIAL declaration or OFFICIAL chronicle of the facts related to the 2010 "comparative trials" by part of DRDO (who should have ANY reason , getANY benefit and suffer NO drawbacks in revealing OFFICIALLY that its product had shown in the comparative trials far better performances in respect to T-90S) and confirming ITS VERSION ?


Do you know ,it is very ,very strange that the primary source providing this version of the facts is....JUST IT ,while any OFFICIAL source say simply that Arjun had (.....probably for the first time in its entire development's history) successfully passed all the trials.