Indian Light Tank: News & Discussion

[Rakesh]

Amidst India-China Thaw, Zorawar Light Tank To Begin Army Trials
https://www.livefistdefence.com/amidst- ... my-trials/
07 Sept 2025

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/wartrophy_414/status/1964405993321935331 ---> The side box launchers on the Zorawar turret are ATGM launchers.

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/DefenceDecode/status/1967949493313364042 ---> Zorawar MLT cutout diagram.

[vonkabra]

Zorawar has undergone extensive trials in desert terrain. Could anyone provide clarity on why a tank meant for mountain operations needs to be tested in the desert? I could have understood if they tested it on the Eastern Front for Bangladesh-type terrain, but the desert??

DRDO successfully conducts first phase of field firing trials of Indian light tank ‘Zorawar’
https://ddnews.gov.in/en/drdo-successfu ... k-zorawar/
14 Sept 2024

[SRajesh]

^^ saar
The only thing I can think of is Tibet is an High altitude desert climate zone
Now you cannot create Low O2 levels but can have low temps early morning or late nights in the desert with temps falling
We probably dont have adequate terrain in Ladak for testing or want to keep it away from prying eyes

[vonkabra]

Ok, at least that has some logic to it...

[uddu]

DRDO Confirms Zorawar Light Tank's Adaptable Design, Paving the Way for More Powerful 32-ton Variant with 120mm Turret and 800hp Engine
https://defence.in/threads/drdo-confirm ... ine.13470/

zorawar-light-tank-set-for-indigenous-powertrain-upgrade-800hp-engine-and-local-transmission-to-replace-cummins
https://idrw.org/zorawar-light-tank-set ... e-cummins/

So there is a Zorawar MK2 weighing 32 tons, 800 hp Indigenous engine and 120mm gun.

[Manish_P]

Let's have weight increase on the light tanks and weight reduction on the main tanks

What next - the MK3 Medium weighing in at 40, the MK4 Main at 50 and the MK5 NG at 60 tons... oh wait.

[S_Madhukar]

I am already wondering if chassis is strong enough … looks like strong shoulders and skinny legs…

[uddu]

Zorawar MK1 will be inducted. MK2 is something that is being tried with the strong possibility of induction post trials. 120mm gun, light tank is very good especially you want a light tank deployed across regions. The 105mm gun is a compromise for Ladakh. If T-72 can be air transportable, the MK2 can also be done so provided, it will carry a single MK2 to Leh compared to 2 MK1s. Whereas this 800hp, 120mm gun variant can be mass produced and deployed across the western front. Will come in handy in many situations.

[uddu]

I am already wondering if chassis is strong enough … looks like strong shoulders and skinny legs…

Learning from Arjun experience, DRDO must have accommodated the need for 120mm gun. What if after trials IA asks for 120mm gun? or they are able to design a variant as quickly as the old one to have the 120mm one with modifications. Even for the NGMBT, DRDO is working to provide both 120mm and 125mm gun options to the IA. Two variants of the tank. 125mm variant with autoloader.
DRDO Advancing Next Generation Main Battle Tank (NGMBT) Smoothbore Gun For The Indian Army
https://www.indiandefensenews.in/2024/1 ... -main.html

[srin]

What is more important than a 120mm gun is a 30mm gun for an anti-drone vehicle

[Manish_P]

The squadron which goes out will probably not be a homogeneous one

It will have a mix of Anti-armor, anti-drone, anti-fortification,... units.

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/NetramDefence/status/1973625727846338629 ---> UPDATE: Future Zorawar light tanks to get indigenous 800 hp engine. DRDO-CVRDE and Ashok Leyland-made engines will replace US Cummins engines, ending foreign dependency for critical tank components. 300 - 400 tanks planned by 2027.

[uddu]

Cross posting from missile thread
Zorawar Light Tank successfully test fired Nag Mk 2 ATGM

[Tanaji]

How does the army plan to deal with surely hundreds of kamikaze drones that the Chinese will send? The “light” part means less armour surely. Might be an idea to have a drone kill platform mounted on top of the zorawar chassis like a quad zsu mounted slaved to a radar on another vehicle.

If Ukraine experience is anything to go by - armour movements are impossible under such conditions.

[Prem Kumar]

A unified CUAS + APS system that wards off ATGMs, RPGs & loitering munitions needs to become part of every tank and artillery unit

We have the building blocks in place

Btw, the 5 Km Nag-Mk2 testfire from Zorawar is phenomenal! I don't think there is any tank in the world that can fire such a long-range missile. This will make mincemeat of enemy heavy tanks, light tanks & IFVs, given how lethal the Nag is in both top-attack and direct-fire mode

It will be nice if they can have a universal canister that can fire both ATGMs, surveillance UAVs and loitering munitions. Will be a real force-multiplier. A handful of tanks in the battalion will have long-endurance, surveillance & targeting UAVs. Others will carry loitering munitions & ATGMs. All of them will share a unified battlefield picture. They can attack with coordination

[Tanaji]

I don’t think there will be tank to tank battles. Ironically the very terrain that allows tank movement also makes it impossible. Open terrain will allow loitering drones to make easy pickings of these tanks unless they are accompanied by a really strong anti drone capability.

The Chinese have been developing drones for last 15 years. We have only just started.

[bala]

Battle formations have to integrate AkashTeer type cover otherwise progress is thwarted. Once that layer is neutralized ie. drones then the formation will easily overpower the remaining contingent of opposition. Classic tank battles are history. India has to work on anti-drone capability and integrate AkashTeer type controls. The light tank usage is mainly in mountainous terrain and this requires alternation of tactics and strategy in real battle. Overwhelming the drone navigation to seek out hideouts and other mountain features is a must. The anti-drone system need to be cleverly placed ahead of the tanks.

BTW all the APJ Kalam missiles envisaged by him are successful and deployed by Indian Armed forces. Only the small arms INSAS system is languishing. Arjun tank has limited deployment by IA.

[Manish_P]

I don’t think there will be tank to tank battles. Ironically the very terrain that allows tank movement also makes it impossible. Open terrain will allow loitering drones to make easy pickings of these tanks unless they are accompanied by a really strong anti drone capability.

The Chinese have been developing drones for last 15 years. We have only just started.

A couple of decades ago some folks used to pooh pooh the chinese advances in tibet - few of the reasons given were - planes will need long runways to take off, planes cant take off with heavy arms loadout, planes will not have good persistence.

Well the chinese weren't dumb or sleeping. They went ahead and built very long runways, they built many of them. And they built lots of refueling aircraft and they are building a whole lot of planes.

And even more pertinent to this topic they built a world class Drones industry and ecosystem which dominates and dwarves the rest of the world combined.