Breaking news
India has recently conducted field trial tests with new local-made Arjun Mk-II main battle tank 0912.
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Defence & Security News - India |
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| Monday, December 9, 2013 08:26 AM | |||
| India has recently conducted field trial tests with new local-made Arjun Mk-II main battle tank. | |||
| India
has recently conducted field trial tests of its new local-made main battle
tank Arjun Mk-II, an upgraded version of the Arjun
Mk-I version, have thrown mixed results with the fire power
comprising Israeli LAHAT missile falling short of expectation even as
its overall performance left defence scientists upbeat. |
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 New Indian-made main battle tank Arjun Mk II during field trial tests. |
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Arjun
Mk- II was put to extensive tests including a lot of firing from May to
August this year in Rajasthan, a defence source said, adding that the
tank also covered more than 1,000 km in the field trials. The Army and
the Defence Research and Development Organisation ( DRDO) are separately
evaluating results of the field trials held at the desert of Rajasthan.
There was no dispute between the developers and the users on the tank's performance on around 60 per cent of the parameters, the source said. In fact, DRDO scientists plan to showcase the Arjun tank's advanced version at the Republic Day parade next year. But the trial outcome showed that the tank underperformed on two major counts – missile firing capability and muzzle reference system ( MRS). The MRS is an electronic device that is intended to measure the current value of a tank barrel bend in order to take it into account when firing the gun and, therefore, to improve the accuracy of firing. The Israeli LAHAT missile performed well but it left a lot of smoke in the tank's compartment, the source said. Efforts were already underway to sort out the issue. Help is also being sought from the missile's manufacturer Israeli Aerospace Industries ( IAI). The Army agreed to accept Arjun Mk- II after the DRDO made several improvements to meet its expectations. Subsequently, the DRDO decided to develop the upgraded version with 16 major and 56 minor changes. The Arjun core committee, comprising Army representatives and DRDO scientists, met every year to remove obstacles so that delays could be avoided. Within a short span of two- and- ahalf- year after the parameters for Arjun Mk- II were finalised, DRDO scientists were able to build two prototypes. |
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