NEW DELHI (Web Desk) – It has been a long time since Pakistan developed its tank “Al-Khalid”. Not only Pakistan carried out a successful test, but also sold this tank out to other countries a number of times.
On the other hand, India, which has been exhausted of working on its only tank “Arjun” for several decades, is still relying on Russian tanks and has decided to abandon this project.
Indian army cites several deficiencies in the tank that include “deficient fire control system”, “inaccuracy of its guns”, “low speeds in tactical areas” and persistent “inability to operate in temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius”.
Defence analysts say the Arjun faced persistent problems of overheating and that “tank’s main subsystems, the fire control system (FCS), the suspension system, integrated gunner’s main sight, which includes a thermal imager and laser range-finder, which were rendered erratic and useless by the abnormally high peak internal temperature of beyond 55 °C in India.
In 2008, the Indian Army announced plans to acquire an entirely new main battle tank unrelated to the Arjun, to be inducted after 2020.
Subsequently delays and other problems in its development from the 1990s to the 2000s prompted the Indian Army to order T-90S tanks from Russia to meet requirements that the Arjun had been expected to fulfill.
