II. The Arjun Mark-II, Future MBT of the IA.

Announced specs/upgrades by the DRDO

The FMBT's are intended to replace the T-72 MBTs in the Indian Army in a post-2020 situation.

"For engine development, we have formed a national team comprising members from the academia, the user, industry and the DRDO. We have also gone in for an international consultant."

"We are confident that we will be ready with the FMBT prototype in five to seven years."

"We are trying to involve all the stakeholders -- the user [the Army], quality control personnel and the production agency -- in this project and the industry will be our partner. We will go for a modular design so that we can always upgrade the tank when new technology comes in."

"The immediate task for the CVRDE [Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment] is to develop the Arjun-Mk II tank and demonstrate it to the user and go for the production of 124 numbers in the HVF (Heavy Vehicles Factory]."

"With this upgrade, the commander can carry out his hunting job at night with his thermal sight and engage targets more effectively."

"The penalty for using these bricks (explosive armor reactive panel) is that they will add 1.5 tonnes to the tank's weight. But we can prevent top attack and side attack. We can add to the tank's protection from missiles and rocket-propelled grenades."

-- S. Sundaresh, Chief Controller (Armaments and Combat Engineering), DRDO.


* FMBT's engine will be two-thirds the size of Arjun Mark I MBT's engine and will generate 1,500-horsepower. First prototype of the indigenous engine would be ready by 2016. FMBT will weigh 50 tonnes.

* Project to develop the transmission for the tank is being launched. Engine and transmission ( aka "Bharat Power Pack") will meet the FMBT's mobility requirements.

* Volume occupied by the electronics package will be low.

* A total of 93 upgrades, including the advanced air defence gun system for firing at attack helicopters. Missiles firing capability to destroy long-range targets and bring down attack helicopters.

* Panoramic sight with night vision for the tank's commander. An automatic target tracking system to add accuracy when firing on a moving target.

* Explosive reactive armor panel which will comprise explosives in metallic brick form. These bricks will be mounted all round the MBT. When the enemy ammunition hits these bricks, they will explode and retard the energy of the projectile. Tanks armor will not be penetrated.

* Improvements in material, fuel injection and filtration technologies will contribute to the reduction in the engine size without compromising on power.

* Indian Army has placed an intent for production of 124 Arjun-Mk II tanks.

* Phase I, 45 tanks will roll out with 56 upgrades, including the missile firing capability and the commander's panoramic sight with night vision.

* Phase II, the remaining 79 tanks, with all the 93 improvements, will come off the assembly line. “By 2013-14, the first batch of around 30 tanks will go out,” Dr. Sivakumar said.

* 124 Arjun-Mk II tanks would cost Rs.5,000 crores.