In the wake of a standoff between India and China, the Army has got the government approval for emergency procurement of light tanks. The Indian Army’s mechanised forces directorate has begun setting requirements for a small tank order for light tanks. Military planners want lighter tanks that can be airlifted to elevated areas along the Chinese border. Currently, India only uses the Russian-made T-72 and T-90 as well as its indigenous Arjun tank, which is too heavy for the mountainous regions and is made for the desert along the border with Pakistan.
China tested its light tank, Xinqingtan, which is equipped with a 105mm main gun and a 1,000-horse-power engine. The Xinqingtan was tested in July 2017 in the Tibet region bordering India.
India also built up forces along the border, airlifting main battle tanks (MBTs) and armoured personnel carrier to Ladakh using C-17s of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
While the Army has tested MBTs in high-altitude areas in Ladakh and Sikkim, and has evolved mechanisms over the years to use them in such conditions, experts believe light tanks, given their superior mobility and manoeuvrability due to lower weight, are better suited for the conditions in Ladakh.
Chinese Light Tank
The Chinese new ZTQ 105 light tank, also named Type 15 or ZTQ-15 in the Chinese army, is a lightweight battle tank designed and manufactured by NORINCO (China North Industries Corporation). The VT5 was unveiled to the public during the Zhuhai AirShow China in November 2016. According to NORINCO engineers, the VT5 was developed for the export market. The VT5 has a weight from 33 to 36 tons depending on the armor fitted to the tank. With this weight, the tank offers more mobility than a standard main battle tank offering the same level of firepower. The power-to-weight ratio is between 27 and 30 hp/ton depending on the armor package. This tank can be used in mountain areas and operate in terrains that are inaccessible to standard main battle tanks weighing around 50 tons.
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Options Open
India has very few options to choose from, and it is not clear which tanks the Indian Army is looking at for emergency procurement.
Russia’s air-transportable Sprut SDM1 light tank, which has commonalities with the T72 and T90s Russian-origin tanks in Indian service, is one option.
For procuring the light tanks off-the-self from a foreign vendor, India’s options would be limited, as only a few nations today produce a light tank. The United States has recently embarked on a Mobile Protected Firepower Program through BAE Systems for a light tank, which is now at a prototype stage. Russia has an air-liftable Sprut SDM1 light tank offered to international customers by Rosoboronexport that has commonalities with the T-72 and T-90 that are a major part of India’s armoured forces inventory.
Air-lifting of Tanks
In the 1990s, the IAF had airlifted 30 T-72 tanks from Agra to Leh for deployment in eastern Ladakh. This region has seen multiple Chinese transgression over the last two decades.
In the 1990s, however, local army commanders thought the tanks were of little use. They were dismantled and flown back to the mainland using Il-76 aircraft of the IAF’s 25 Squadron.
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This was reversed in 2014, when the IAF’s C-17 aircraft, capable of carrying 40-70 tonne up to a distance of 4,200 to 9,000 km in a single hop, took off from the Chandigarh Air Base with dismantled tanks.
The move was part of a plan to beef up the presence of mechanised forces in high altitude areas, both in the eastern and western sectors of the LAC.
Maintaining tanks at 12,000 feet is not easy. The army faces a number of challenges, including rarefied air and below freezing point temperatures. Among other things, it uses special fuel and lubricants, and the engines are revved up every night, sometimes twice, to keep them in a working condition.
Operations in High Altitude Areas
India had actually used tanks against China in the region. During the 1962 war with China, the IAF had airlifted tanks to Chushul in south-eastern Ladakh right under the nose of the enemy. Antonov An-12 transport aircraft of IAF’s 44 Squadron, inducted just months ago in 1961, had moved six AMX-13 tanks of the 20 Lancers to Chushul.
In the event of a war, tanks will be used to defend the flat top approaches, from Tibet towards Leh, such as those near Chushul and Demchok. The flat terrain in this region, strategists say, allows the use of mechanised forces.
Over the years, China has built a network of motorable roads in the region, which in turn is linked to the G219 Highway (connecting Lhatse and Xinjiang) passing through occupied Aksai Chin, making it easier for the People’s Liberation Army to patrol the region and pour in troops from the mainland. Tanks can intercept the highway in Aksai Chin in case of hostilities.
Historical Use
Indian, British and U.S. troops used light tanks in their fight against the Japanese in Northeastern India and Burma during World War 2, the light tank being the U.S.-made M3/M3A1 Stuart delivered in the framework of the extraordinary Lend-Lease Act signed in 1941. They also used M3 Grant medium tanks and, later, M4 Sherman medium tanks, also supplied by the U.S. In 1948 these same Shermans pushed back Pakistan forces in the Zojila pass. Against China in 1962, the army used French-made AMX-13 light tanks in the battle of Gurung Hill near Pangong Tso and also deployed them in Bomdila and Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh. In the 1971 Bangladesh campaign, French AMX-13 and Soviet PT-76 amphibious tanks played a stellar role in the battle of Garibpur.
In 2009, the army’s interest in light tanks was renewed with the sanction of two armoured brigades for high altitude operations alongside the mountain strike corps. The army issued a request for information (RFI) in 2009, but eventually T-72 tanks were deemed adequate and the RFI was abandoned.
DRDO’s Efforts
In the 1980s, the DRDO integrated the chassis of the Soviet BMP-1 infantry combat vehicle with a 105mm gun, but the army was not interested. Next, the DRDO mounted a French GIAT TS-90 turret and a 105mm gun on the BMP chassis, which the Ordnance Factory Board was building in Odisha. Again the army was indifferent and the project was shelved.
DRDO has encouraged the MoD to grant it the light-tank development project. To eliminate the costly and time-consuming import of light tanks, the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) has developed plans for building an indigenous light tank for use in mountains and in jungle terrain.
DRDO has short-listed two options for developing an indigenous light tank within 18 months.
The first option involves creating a 34-35 tonne tank by fitting a 105mm Cockerill gun turret onto a K-9 Vajra hull, powered by a 1,000 horsepower MTU engine optimised for high altitudes. DRDO sources say this hybrid tank could go into production within 18 months.
The DRDO’s second option retains the K-9 Vajra hull and MTU engine, but matched with the gun turret of the T-90S tank that the army already uses. This 38-tonne tank would also require 18 months for going into production.
Larsen & Toubro is assembling the K-9 Vajra under licence from South Korea and will deliver its current order by next year. If the K-9 Vajra chassis is to form the basis for an Indian light tank, it would have to extend that licence.
The DRDO is confident that either of these hybrid tanks would be better options than what the MoD is considering buying: the Russian Sprut SDM1.
Comments
Light tanks enjoy enhanced strategic, operational and tactical mobility for rapid deployment in inaccessible areas and where medium tanks movement is impeded. The requirement of rapidly deployable, protected and mobile fire power, which can result in precision engagement in the mountains in view of terrain and technology advantage enjoyed by China, has always remained high in the desirability matrix.
The light tanks can be nimble and manoeuvre quite easily in the Ladakh plains, though it is located at 18,000 feet above sea level, and the acquisition and deployment of these fighting machines will bolster India’s defences against the irresponsible Chinese.
