Arjun (tank) - Trials and Exercise

Trials and Exercise

In 1988-1989 two prototypes underwent automotive trials, which revealed major deficiencies in mobility, engine, and transmission.

Several prototypes underwent extensive mobility and armament trials, in 1996 and 1997. The Army found the performance of the prototypes below the acceptable standards and listed deficiencies in the following areas:

• Accuracy of gun at battle ranges
• Mission reliability
• Ammunition lethality
• Containerisation of ammunition bin
• Emergency traverse
• Fire control system unable to function in temperatures above 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit).

During summer trials in 2005, it was reported that the Arjun suffered major problems with its main gun sight, suspension system, and fire control system. Moreover, engine failures occurred commonly in temperatures averaging 55-60 degrees Celsius.

There are conflicting accounts of Arjun's trial results in 2006. In 2007, Major General H.M. Singh, a director in charge of trial and evaluation, said that the last year's user field trial report had certified that the accuracy and consistency of the weapon system was proved beyond doubt." However, the 2006 army trial results showed that "the decade-old problems of overheating persist" and that "tank’s main subsystems, the fire control system (FCS) and integrated gunner’s main sight, which includes a thermal imager and laser range-finder, are rendered erratic and useless by the Arjun’s abnormally high peak internal temperature, which moves well beyond 55 degrees Celsius. This is in testimony to the Parliamentary committee."

In 2007 the Arjun tank was fielded during the Ashwamedha exercise in the deserts of Rajasthan. The army was extremely unhappy with the tank, citing 14 defects that included "deficient fire control system", "inaccuracy of its guns", "low speeds in tactical areas" and "inability to operate over 50 degrees Celsius". "The Army is now faced with a troubling prospect: inducting a lumbering, misfiring, vintage design tank like the Arjun, and that, too, in large numbers". This, after DRDO over-shot Arjun’s project deadline by 16 years — from 1984 to 1995, finally closing the project only in 2000 — and the cost overrun is almost 20 times the original estimate. This is the highest percentage overrun for any DRDO project.

With the September 2007 winter trials, the Indian army deemed Arjun's performance unsatisfactory, including at least four engine failures. DRDO, on the other hand, insisted the tank was a viable choice for adoption and suggested the unsatisfactory performance of the engine during the winter trials was due to sabotage.

The Auxiliary User Cum Reliability Trials (AUCRT) of the Arjun MBT were conducted from September 2007 to summer of 2008. In a report to the Parliamentary standing committee the Indian army deemed Arjun's performance unsatisfactory, including four engine failures within only 1000 kilometres. The defence minister presented this report before the parliament, later published by Press Information Bureau Government of India (PIB).

The Army wrote in the report that during the "accelerated user-cum-reliability trials" in 2008, the Arjun "was found to have failure of power packs, low accuracy and consistency, failure of hydropneumatic suspension units, shearing of top rollers and chipping of gun barrels". Sabotage was suspected, but the Army rejected that any sabotage happened during the trials. A later report published by the Government of India during the induction ceremony of the Arjun tank, confirms the success of the trial. "An independent evaluation of the tank by a reputed tank manufacturer found that the MBT Arjun is an excellent tank with very good mobility and fire power characteristics." DRDO installed an instrument to function as a black box in the Arjun, following attempts to "sabotage" its engine.

Subsequently in September 2008, the Indian Army signed a deal with Russia to import 347 T-90 tanks and license build a further 1000. Transfer of key T-90 technologies has also been agreed upon as a part of the deal.

In 2008, the Indian Army announced plans to acquire an entirely new main battle tank unrelated to the Arjun, to be inducted after 2020. The Indian Army has held an "international seminar on future MBTs", during which the parameters and requirements of this future MBT were identified. As a result, Russia has offered to team with India on developing this future tank. According to Jane's, the Indian Army had confirmed that the Arjun's production will be capped at 124 units.

According to the testimony to the Indian Parliament in the winter of 2008 by the Defense Minister, the Arjun's defects have been rectified "periodically", and the army has "categorically" indicated Arjun's performance as satisfactory. 124 Arjun tanks will be inducted into the army, one regiment by the end of 2008 and the next regiment by the summer of 2009. The tanks will enter service with 140 Armoured Brigade at Jaisalmer. The Arjun was to undergo comparative trials against the Indian Army's Russian-built T-90 tanks in June 2009.

Retired Lt. Col. Anil Bhat, a strategic analyst, pointed out that “the Arjun tank is cumbersome for strategic movement, i.e. to be taken from one sector to another. It is too wide and too heavy to be moved in the railway carriages that we have in India. The comparative trials are just an eyewash as Arjun is incomparable to T-90" owing to the different weight class of both tanks. This comment by Lt. Col. Anil Bhat was made without realising that Arjun-specific rail wagons have already been inducted.

A comparative trial was conducted by the Indian Army in March 2010, in which the Arjun was pitted against the Indian T-90. The trial pitted one squadron of Arjuns against an equal number of T-90s. Each squadron was given three tactical tasks; each involved driving across 50 kilometres of desert terrain and then shooting at a set of targets. Each tank had to fire at least ten rounds, stationary and on the move, with each hit being carefully logged. In total, each tank drove 150 km and fired between 30-50 rounds. The trials also checked the tanks’ ability to drive through water channels 5–6 feet deep.

Regarding the trial, a Ministry of Defence press release reported:

After many years of trial and tribulation it has now proved its worth by its superb performance under various circumstances, such as driving cross-country over rugged sand dunes, detecting, observing and quickly engaging targets, accurately hitting targets – both stationary and moving, with pin pointed accuracy. Its superior fire-power is based on accurate and quick target acquisition capability during day and night in all types of weather and shortest possible reaction time during combat engagements.