The Hindu : MBT: imaging devices unable to withstand Indian conditions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 27, 2003

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MBT: imaging devices unable to withstand Indian conditions

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI JULY 26. A major problem identified in India's main battle tank for the future, the T-90 S, remains to be rectified, despite the fact that the first T-90 S assembled in India will roll out from the Avadi Heavy Vehicles Factory later this year.

The machines, touted as the mainstay of the armoured formations of the next few decades, had developed problems with their imaging system — the key component in identification of distant objects — since the days of the first trials, Defence Ministry sources said. This expensive system is required for the tank commander and the gunner to sight and fix coordinates of the enemy object or installation. Without this new generation "eyes", the `superiority' of the fighting machines will be considerably reduced.

In most trials since, this critical part of the T-90 S reportedly failed to withstand `Indian conditions' — the 50C plus temperatures in the Rajasthan deserts — and this would render the machines virtually `blind.'

Defence Ministry sources said that the trials with the fully built T-90 S, imported from Russia, revealed an alarming "10 per cent plus" failure rate of these components. Since the tanks were still covered under a warranty clause, the Russians replaced all the defective ones.

The Russians had fitted the T-90 S with the French built vision devices that were reportedly made for European conditions — where even 30C plus temperatures are rare. When tested in the Rajasthan deserts, these failed repeatedly.

Each of the imaging systems cost about Rs. two crores, nearly 20 per cent of the cost of the tank. Sources said that as per the current contract terms, if these systems fail, experts would have to come down from Russia to fix it — an impossible situation in battle conditions. Again, the contract does not speak of transfer of technology for these critical components, an oversight yet to be rectified by the top brass in the Indian military and defence establishment. This is despite the fact that the last inter-Governmental meet between India and Russia was held last week. The group meets once every six months, alternatively in Russia and India, to discuss production schedules and problems faced by both sides. HVF and Defence Ministry top brass had attended the last meeting, in Moscow.

The sources said that both the Indian and Russian sides were aware of the problem, but the issue was yet to be taken up for any serious discussions at the top level. One official suggested that the vision devices were "a last minute addition to the deal" and hence, the issue was "thought of" when the initial set of tanks were delivered.

But there are enough indications that both the Army and the ordnance bosses are not happy with the present situation. In their discussions, one suggestion that apparently emerged recently was air-conditioning of the tank. But experts say this is more easily said than done.

"You look at the T-90 tanks. There is really no space to put anything more in there. If you need to accommodate an air-conditioning system, then one has to remove something from the machine," the expert said.

Sources said that now the focus was on insulating the vision devices from the remaining part of the tank and to maintain this area under relatively lower temperature conditions. Meanwhile, the French were working to ensure that these devices withstand higher temperature. Another European nation was also in the fray to produce night vision devices capable of withstanding higher temperatures.

The devices are problematic not only for the Indians. The Ukraine-made T-80s too developed the same problems when tested by Pakistan under the same conditions. "Actually, the Pakistanis have one more problem. Their tanks run on turbine. And the fine dust particles that get into their engines lead to more frequent breakdowns on their side," a source said.

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