The Hindu : T-90 S tanks to roll out from Avadi HVF on January 7

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 06, 2004

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T-90 S tanks to roll out from Avadi HVF on January 7

By R.K.Radhakrishnan

Photo: V.V. Krishnan

A T90 S Tank in New Delhi for the first rehearsal of the Republic Day Parade last year.

CHENNAI JAN. 5. The first indigenously assembled Russian main battle tank (MBT), T-90 S, will roll out of the Avadi Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) on January 7, Defence Ministry officials said.

The semi knocked-down tanks were shipped to Chennai from Russia early last year. Russian experts are helping their Indian counterparts integrate the parts at Avadi. Once the technicians and experts here achieve a degree of familiarity with the integration of semi knocked-down tanks, they will begin working on completely knocked-down tanks. Production of the tanks under licence from Russia will begin thereafter.

The T-90 S is actually an improved version of the T-72 tanks. It features a low silhouette and has combined active and passive defences. It has a low rounded turret centred on the hull and is considered among world's best protected MBTs.

The indigenisation of production could take "about two to three years," the officials said. The production of the tanks in Avadi would offer an opportunity for the local industry in Chennai and elsewhere to collaborate with the HVF on a project of great importance to the country, they noted.

"I will hand over the first tank to the Chief of Army Staff, [N.C.Vij]," the Minister of State for Defence Production, O.Rajagopal, told The Hindu over telephone. Top defence and Ordnance Board officials would take part in the low-key function at the HVF.

Though a few battalions of the Armoured Corps now have the imported T- 90 S, a large part of the Indian armour largely consists of the ageing T-55 and T-72 tanks, which urgently need upgradation, the officials said. Also, as the vintage Vijayantha tanks were completely phased out, the armoured corps needed newer versions to face the challenge posed by Pakistan acquiring the T-80 tanks from Ukraine.

The options before the Army included the MBT, Arjun, developed by the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, Avadi, and the Russian-made T- 90. Once the Rs. 3000 crore deal with Russia for the T-90 S was clinched in 1999, the Army received fully built tanks to equip a few battalions. The remaining will take the "Avadi route" to the Indian Army.

There has been some delay in inducting the remaining tanks. Earlier, defence production experts had hoped that the first MBTs would be ready by September. Since some more testing had to be carried out, a late-December date was set.

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