India's future main battle tank, the T-90MS 'Tagil', which will be license manufactured in Avadi in Chennai, will not be equipped with new-generation active protection systems that destroy incoming missiles and shells before they can hit the tank.
Active protection systems have saved the lives of dozens of tank crew deployed in Israeli combat operations in Gaza and have now been deployed by the Russian Army in operations in Syria.
"The new active generation protection system is one of the most advanced in the world. For decades, tanks have depended on their armour to protect their crew from enemy shells and anti-tank guided missiles. However, the singular vulnerability of modern tanks to the latest anti-tank guided missiles in the ongoing Iraq and Syria conflicts have raised serious question marks on the ability of armour alone to prevent casualties among tank crews.
Active protection systems are meant to counter this threat. Radars fitted on tanks detect the launch of hostile missiles and tank shells, predict their incoming trajectory and launch guided ammunition that can destroy or deflect hostile projectiles upto 50 metres away from the tank. The ensuing blast destroys the enemy missile, rocket propelled grenade or shell before it can pierce the armour of the tank.
The Indian Army wants the advanced protection systems on the 464 T-90MS tanks ordered for $2 billion in November 2016, said an Indian Army official.
The MoD official said efforts were made last year to procure advanced protection systems from the overseas market, but the Russian system was rejected on technical grounds, and the second competitor from Israel would have led to a single-vendor situation. The Indian government avoids purchasing weapons and equipment on a single-vendor basis.
India already operates around 800 T-90S tanks, first delivered by Russia in 2001.
Despite the newly ordered tanks lacking active protection systems, the Indian Army is satisfied with the purchase of the upgraded T-90MS tanks from Russia.
The new batch is equipped with thermal imaging night sights to allow the tank commander to fire at enemy locations even during night battles, the Indian Army official said. The tank features an improved chassis and new modular turret which for the first time in Russian battle tank design history factored in better crew comfort and survivability.
The tanks will be license-produced at state-owned Heavy Vehicle Factory (HVF), based at Avadi in south India. But Indian Army officials say in private that the state-owned factory is not able to meet the production target and is in fact meeting less than 30 percent of the target of production. Besides, the level of indigenization of the T-90 tanks being license-produced at Avadi factory is very low because the Russians are not transferring technology fully to India.
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