The T-90 tank was manned by a crew of three personnel and was commanded by a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). The commander and the gunner succumbed to burn injuries. The driver is out of danger and under treatment at Babina’s military hospital.

“Two Indian Army personnel, including a JCO, lost their lives after the barrel of a T-90 tank burst during a field firing exercise today in Babina Cantonment near Jhansi. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident,” Army’s official statement said.

The T-90 tanks are Russian-made. It is the mainstay of India’s tank regiments. It came into service in the Russian Army in 1992. The tank has a 125 mm smoothbore main gun, a robust engine, and the 1A45T fire-control system. It also has a state-of-the-art defense system. Its armor is a blend of high-grade steel, it has smoke grenade dischargers, Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armor (ERA), and the Shtora infrared anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) jamming system.

It has a V-92S diesel engine. The current iteration of the tank has a 1,250 horsepower engine. The 1,000 horsepower engine can attain a top speed of 60 kilometers per hour which is decent by tank standard.

In 2001, India purchased 310 T-90 tanks from Russia out of which 186 were to be locally assembled. In 2006, Indian and Russia signed another contract for 330 T-90S Bhishma tanks that were to be made in Tamil Nadu.

The Bhishma version of the tank is tailored for Indian use cases and is developed in collaboration with Russia and France.

India’s first batch was inducted under a license in August 2009.

In 2012, India purchased 354 new tanks which had taken India’s total tank strength to 4,500 tanks, including T-90 variants, T-72, and Arjun MBT. By 2020, India has 2,080 tanks in service.

In 2021, the army was looking to upgrade its T-90 tank fleet with new components and soft and hard kill systems.

India planned to have 21 T-90 tank regiments by 2020, with 45 combat tanks and 17 training and replacement tanks per regiment.

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Under the Make-1 category, the industry will undertake the project and be funded by the government in a stark departure from the direct purchase route.

The need for a light tank was realized at the height of the standoff with the Chinese PLA in Ladakh that began in May 2020, where India had to move the heavier T-72 Ajeya tanks (45 tons) and the T-90 (46 tons).

Although effective against all Chinese tanks and crewed by experienced and well-trained Indian Cavalry, they still caused movement and logistical issues in the high-altitude air and inhospitable terrain at 17,500 feet. The treacherous mountain passes made transport a bane, adding to the logistical strain of maintaining 50,000 troops.

Things got worse in the winter of 2020 when the Indian Army had to sustain the high posture through the cold for the first time in 4 decades. Troops from both armies leave forward positions since the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is much calmer than the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

Moreover, China’s logistical advantage owing to the extensive border infrastructure coming deep from within Tibet and Sichuan, allows it to replenish losses and keep units supported with spares. These operational difficulties associated with using heavy tanks in mountain warfare have pushed India’s light tank program.

In the last two years, Beijing has positioned the most recent ZTL-11 wheeled armored personnel carriers, CSK series assault vehicles, and ZTQ 15 (Type 15) third-generation modern light tanks weighs roughly 33-36 tons along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

DRDO-L&T Partnership

DRDO & Larsen and Toubro (L&T) are working together fore the development of the light tank. The tank that is currently under fabrication, is based on the chassis of DRDO’s Next Generation Main Battle Tank (NGMBT) and the successful rollout of the first prototype could happen in 2023.

This will also strengthen the DRDO’s proposal  to develop the Next Generation Main Battle Tank (NGMBT) to meet the Indian Army’s requirement for 1,770 Next Generation Main Battle Tank (NGMBT) under Future Ready Combat Vehicles (FRCV) program.

Project Zorawar

Talks have already started that the NGMBT will be manufactured through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under a public-private partnership (PPP) model which has been adopted for the development of the 5.5 generation AMCA and Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH).

L&T has revealed that it is a development partner in the ‘Zorawar Project’ aimed at building light tanks for the Indian Army, with the first prototype expected to be unveiled in late 2023.

While the company is involved in the platform’s development, L&T is not assured a role in the tank’s production phase. Under the Indian process, development and manufacturing contracts could not be combined.

The project is overseen by the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment(CVRDE) of the DRDO.

The Indian Army is looking for a light tank with a 25-ton weight limit and the same firepower as its traditional tanks. In addition, the military wants them to be equipped with loitering weapons, artificial intelligence (AI), tactical drone integration for surveillance to offer situational awareness, and an active defense system.

Quest to Acquire Light Tank

The development of light tanks for the Indian Army was announced by the Modi government on March 3, 2022. This move was made under the Make-I category of the 2020 Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP).

The Indian Army sensed a compelling need to put light tanks into service to counter China and establish operational superiority in high-altitude areas like Ladakh. After the border conflict with China in the summer of 2020, India initially considered purchasing the Russian light tank Sprut SDM1.

A Request for Information (RFI) for 350 light tanks in the 25-ton weight category was released by the Directorate General of Mechanized Forces in April 2021 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). However, the country has now decided to develop its own light tank rather than import them.

The production and upkeep of India’s imported fleet of tanks had been impeded by the interruption in the world supply chain for defense-related components brought on by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. India must therefore create a light tank for the Indian Army domestically.

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