India's Arjun tank took three decades to go from requirement to regiment
India authorised its home-grown battle tank in 1974 and hoped for a prototype by 1980. The first prototype arrived in 1989, and the tank only joined a regiment in 2004. Along the way the budget swelled from ₹15.50 crore to ₹307.48 crore, yet in desert trials the Arjun reportedly outperformed the Russian T-90.
The project grew out of the 1971 war, after which the government decided India should build its own main battle tank. The army asked for a 50-tonne machine with a 120 mm rifled gun, a computerised fire-control system and a 1,400 horsepower diesel. A dedicated research establishment was set up in 1976, and from 1983 the German firm Krauss-Maffei, makers of the Leopard 2, advised on design; the first prototype looked much like a Leopard 2A4.
Trials from 1993 to 1996 exposed serious flaws, including an overheating engine and a weapons system that underperformed. The army listed 10 shortcomings, and repeated changes to the original requirements were blamed for both the delays and the soaring costs. A revised prototype, PPS-15, won clearance for limited production in 1999, and an order for 124 tanks followed in 2000. Production started at the Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi in 2003, the first five tanks were delivered in August 2004 to the 43rd Armoured Regiment, and all 124 had arrived by mid-2012.
The finished tank carries a four-person crew and can reach 70 km/h on roads. Its gun barrel is made of heat-insulated steel and fires Indian-made armour-piercing and high-explosive rounds, and in 2020 it test-fired the SAMHO, an Indian guided missile meant for tanks and low-flying helicopters. Comparative trials in the Thar Desert in 2010 and 2013 reportedly showed better accuracy and mobility than the T-90, and the Arjun's fire-control system was later fitted to Indian-built T-90s.
Troubles continued. Between 2013 and 2015 three-quarters of the fleet was grounded for lack of spare parts until 2016. An upgraded version, now called the Mk1A, gained dozens of improvements, but in 2024 deliveries were held up by a shortage of engines.
Source: Arjun (tank)
