Bharat Rakshak

Russia has produced quite a long list of famous dancers, so it seemed quite fitting that the country organised a 'tank ballet' at a recently-held arms expo, choreographed by none other than the legendary Bolshoy Theatre.

According to New York Times, five battle tanks -- the T-80 and T-90A battle tanks --started their choreography set to techno music, then moved on to tango and an excerpt from Bizet's opera Carmen.

The dance was produced by Andrey Melanyin, a choreographer for the Bolshoy Theater, according to Russia Today

Self propelled guns are now at the RFP stage and we have teamed up with BEML for the Army tender. BEML is taking the turret from the Czech firm Zusana and the same will be integrated on the Arjun tank chassis. Hopefully trials will commence within a year.

Imagine a tank that can shoot a laser or an electromagnetic pulse. How about one that can drive on a hybrid engine – partly powered by electricity – instead of the loud diesel engines used today? These technologies and others are under consideration for integration into Israel’s future tank which the IDF hopes will be operational by 2020.

Last year, the IDF Ground Forces Command set up a team of combat and technical officers – from the Armored Corps, the Weapons Development Branch in the Ground Forces Command and the Defense Ministry’s Merkava Program Office – to begin planning Israel’s future tank, the successor to the Merkava.

“When we look at what the future tank will look like, we need to look broadly at all technology that exists,” Brig.-Gen. Yigal Slovik, outgoing commander of the Armored Corps, said this week. “There are such things as electromagnetic or laser cannons, but right now they are too big and not applicable. They might however be in the future.”

For power, Slovik said that the tank could potentially operate on a hybrid engine that burns fuel to charge batteries that can then independently power the tank for extended periods.

Slovik said that the crew of the future tank would also likely be smaller than today, and as few as two soldiers could operate it.

“The future tank will ultimately be faster, better protected, more interoperable and more lethal,” he said.

The decision to begin developing a new tank was sparked by the entry of active-protection systems such as the Trophy, which has been installed on an entire brigade of tanks and successfully intercepted a rocket-propelled grenade along the Gaza border last year.

The thinking in the defense establishment is that tanks no longer require thick layers of armor – which slow down the vehicle, and raise fuel and production costs – and could suffice with less armor and more systems like Trophy.

heard on the grapevine that the soldiers and officers of the IA agree

There is no reason to attribute motives with a broadbrush.

Its not a broadbrush - its targetted at Armour officials who have throw these little nuggets here and there similar to folks in other arms who make statements like what has DRDO delivered?

It is then collated with info with our own contacts


If they come baqck and give a specific example of what is a maintenance intensive (with a comparison to tin can) then we will take a second look

I also think its high time army stopped adding more armour, and focused instead on getting anti armour- javelins, lch, and namicas in big numbers as these can be effectively used against the dragon in the hills also...unlike tanks..Also badly need nvg's and sky shields mounted on bmp's in big numbers first.

Please read and understand reliability engineering, terms like MTBF and MTTR, take the pain to obtain credible info using RTI as a tool before expecting someone doing their duty

I also think its high time army stopped adding more armour, and focused instead on getting anti armour- javelins, lch, and namicas in big numbers as these can be effectively used against the dragon in the hills also...unlike tanks..Also badly need nvg's and sky shields mounted on bmp's in big numbers first.

Seriously???

Not going to bother replying

Jai ji, why 'stop adding more armour'? Shouldn't it be 'also add anti armour' ?

I heard on the grapevine that the soldiers and officers of the IA agree that Arjun is an excellent tank but it is a maintenance intensive nightmare as compared to the T-90s and that unless the MoD or GoI increase the budget for maintenance of the Arjun tanks,

what about APU?

sights in hot weather

ICH and Apache do not hold the ground and are very costly and bad in maintainance. I am not so sure we can totally replace tanks with the current level of tech. In future who knows. Arjun need to be persued actively with large and long term order to replace all the legacy tanks like t72 old models which are not updated and t55s etc in a timebound manner.

Arjun Mark II MBT will be a world beater : DRDO

Added to this, is the remote firing capability with 360 degree coverage for the Air Defence weapon.

Experts say that there are three main elements that constitute the attributes of a MBT: armour, firepower and maneuverability. To attain optimal level in one element is to give in to sub-optimality in another. For example, the German tank Leopold has heavy armour but is not all that maneuverable. The American Abrams is focused on fire-power. The Israeli Merkava IV has fast maneuverability.

cross posting from the Multi media forum

who needs RTI
Defence Line - Army's Battle With Arjun - 23 June 2012 - Part 1
Defence Line - Army's Battle With Arjun - 23 June 2012 - Part 2
will give a bit of time for it to sink in

Naughty boy...could not resist, hain!!!

To attain optimal level in one element is to give in to sub-optimality in another. For example, the German tank Leopold has heavy armour but is not all that maneuverable. The American Abrams is focused on fire-power. The Israeli Merkava IV has fast maneuverability.