India's R&D in Defence DRDO, PSUs and Private Sector

A Sharma · Post by **A Sharma** » 26 Aug 2007 02:09

DRDO Newsletter Aug 2007

A patent has been granted by the European Patent Office on Transmit / Receiver Module for Active Phased Array Antenna that has been developed by Electronics Research & Development Establishment ( LRDE), Bangalore. Dr UK Revankar, Sci G (now at DARE); Late KT Sophy, Sci E; K Sreenivasulu, Sci D and KM Veerabhadra, Sci D are associated with this invention.

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 26 Aug 2007 03:16

sunilUpa wrote:
joey wrote: We are to be seriously deluding ourselves if we are to believe what Vivek writes and that too from DN...IMHO
BEL and Oerlikon Contraves do have ongoing colloboration. BEL has been supplying Radars and sub-assemblies to Oerlikon Contraves and BEL has colloboration for Naval FC system with Oerlikon Contraves. Now this is the first time I found any reference to Sky shield.

BEL built a radar for the Skyshield a year or so back and supplied it to Singapore.

We havent purchased the Skyshield 35- a pity! The AHEAD ammo and revolver cannon are deadly.

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 26 Aug 2007 03:27

Link

DRDO, private hand in building aerial survey machine
Statesman News Service

BANGALORE, Aug. 25: Indiaâ€™s defence establishment and premier research body, Defence Research and Development Organisation, has decided to partner private enterprise for building Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for the surveillance needs of the Indian Army.
The DRDO hopes to firm up the arrangement with the private sector within the next three months for manufacturing nearly 100 UAVs or the medium or short altitude long endurance vehicles, as they are known. According to Dr D Bannerjee, chief controller, DRDO, there is a marked shift in doing things in the organisation with the emphasis now on integrating with the industry.

He told The Statesman here that the industry would now become a partner in building frames and manufacturing the UAVs, highlighting the scope for public-private partnership.

Expression of interest for the partnership had already been sent to leading players and the response has been very good. While he did not name the companies, it is believed these include the Tatas, Larsen and Toubro, among others.

The formal request for proposal would be sent after the evaluation is completed which could take three to four months.

This type of interaction was different in that before the corporate sector was merely a vendor. Now the DRDO would work with it as a partner to manufacture the UAV equipped with sensors, radars and communication support systems.

The partnership would be based on investment, design, and manufacture against committed orders. Asked whether the association would be in the form of a joint venture, the DRDO official explained that it would not be a separate legal entity as it involved financial, legal and related complications.

Instead the DRDO and the partner or partners would work on equal sharing basis through joint management and work sharing.

The new approach, he added, was significant in that till now the transfer of prototype to production was taking time. The industry, however, understood the production practices in the areas of concern and would participate in the design effort, configure the vehicle to suit the production patterns with trained engineers.

All this would only bring value addition besides helping to understand the production processes.

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 26 Aug 2007 03:32

Ravi Sharma...no blunders this time...or editorializing..

Link

[quote]Front Page

India joins select group to develop technology for UCAV

Ravi Sharma

The latest class in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is specifically designed to deliver weapons and attack targets

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

â€œThe Indian programme will involve developing the know-how for a swept wingâ€

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 26 Aug 2007 05:12

[quote="JCage]
BEL built a radar for the Skyshield a year or so back and supplied it to Singapore.

We havent purchased the Skyshield 35- a pity! The AHEAD ammo and revolver cannon are deadly.[/quote]

Thanks, I found the reference for that. BEL exported one Radar unit to Singapore in 2002-3 for $4 million.

Wish we had that system.. would have been handy against low flying cruise missiles.

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 26 Aug 2007 05:35

Yes, ideally every IAF AFB and vital point should be protected by:

PAD+AAD for N cover against BM attacks
Barak derived SAM & / or Akash
New SHORAD SAM
Skyshield + Igla-S

This would knock out most attempts!

mandrake · Post by **mandrake** » 26 Aug 2007 10:58

At first lets see the MALE, there is plenty of time to talk about UCAV then, anyways where did Dr Bannerjee spoke just wondering? Any Seminars?

gopal.suri · Post by **gopal.suri** » 27 Aug 2007 11:34

Solid State Laser Developments at LASTEC

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 29 Aug 2007 01:07

DRDO seeks partner for early warning and control system programme

[quote]Bangalore: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is looking for a partner in the product maintenance of the three airborne early warning and control system (AEW&CS) aircraft that it is building for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The DRDO had initiated pre-proposal talks with some private and public sector companies, including Larsen and Toubro, Tata Power and Bharat Electronics Limited for the â€œeye in the skyâ€

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 29 Aug 2007 01:21

Looks like some sense hit the IAF brass and they held off on making this a Phalcon equivalent in terms of performance.

That would have added 4 years per reports.

Of course, as a quid pro quo- it might well be that a few more Phalcons are also ordered w/o objection from the DRDO.

Hope they come with some TOT or offset, given the cost. And are not passed off as extension of current deal.

>>The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is looking for a partner in the product maintenance of the three airborne early warning and control system (AEW&CS) aircraft that it is building for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Good to see that they are thinking of long term sustainability and life cycle requirements from now itself

>>Running years behind schedule

How when?

>>Stressing that it was the IAF and not the DRDO which chose the aircraft, Dr. Banerjee said that in a cost-performance trade-off, the 145 was the â€œcheapest possible option available.â€

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 29 Aug 2007 01:23

^^^ This is all very conphuzing phor me. Didn't we read in some DDM report that IAF has rejected the DRDO proposal (Full 360Â° coverage, platform capable of flying space, death ray optional etc tec)..EMB 145 is hardly in that league.

Ahhh wait, we will do comparative trials with Phalcon and then reject it.

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 29 Aug 2007 01:29

Well if the program is going ahead & there are IAF people deputed to it, then there will be no comparative trials, because it is to a different ASR (Air Staff Requirement). Similarly, no comparative trials between the LCA and Sukhoi either, the former just has to meet its ASRs- revised and original, as necessary. The comparative trials business is Army stuff because there is only one category- MBT, and so the Arjun fits the same role as far as the IA is concerned, as does the T-90S and T-72 Upg. Hence trials.

Coming to this program, it does seems that there was some hurried "oh we need to have 2X the Erieye attempt" to recast the ASR, but this time the boffins must have taken signature likhit main, and made sure that the Brass couldnt change things midway and leave them with the blame (not that the DDM leaks didnt try!).

So usual time honored (of recent vintage) compromise. This program will go on, and we'll probably order a couple more Phalcons, which the DRDO wont object to. Thats my guess anyways.

A Sharma · Post by **A Sharma** » 01 Sep 2007 20:15

Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE), Dehra Dun, has designed and developed an Electro-optical fire control system (EOFCS) for naval ships based on the requirements of the Naval HQrs. This is the first indigenously developed system providing ballistic solution to SRGM 76 mm gun for naval ships; and surveillance, acquisition, target tracking during day and night. The EOFCS detects a hostile target using a daylight CCD camera or a thermal imager, tracks it, and finally engages it with the naval gun. Range of the target is measured by a laser rangefinder. The target data is processed by a fire control computer to compute the estimated target position, vis-Ã -vis, the predicted gun-aim-point. Weapon control system is designed to provide defence on the surface with SRGM 76 mm gun. BEL, Bangalore, has been associated with this development.

After acceptance tests conducted at the factory, EON-51 was installed on the naval ship for user evaluation and sea evaluation trials which have been performed successfully. The system is currently under production.

DRDO Newsletter for Sept 2007

More info and pics in newsletter

skher · Post by **skher** » 02 Sep 2007 00:09

A Sharma wrote:Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE), Dehra Dun, has designed and developed an Electro-optical fire control system (EOFCS) for naval ships based on the requirements of the Naval HQrs. This is the first indigenously developed system providing ballistic solution to SRGM 76 mm gun for naval ships; and surveillance, acquisition, target tracking during day and night. The EOFCS detects a hostile target using a daylight CCD camera or a thermal imager, tracks it, and finally engages it with the naval gun. Range of the target is measured by a laser rangefinder. The target data is processed by a fire control computer to compute the estimated target position, vis-Ã -vis, the predicted gun-aim-point. Weapon control system is designed to provide defence on the surface with SRGM 76 mm gun. BEL, Bangalore, has been associated with this development.

After acceptance tests conducted at the factory, EON-51 was installed on the naval ship for user evaluation and sea evaluation trials which have been performed successfully. The system is currently under production.

DRDO Newsletter for Sept 2007

More info and pics in newsletter

When can one expect to see this Electro-optical fire control system (EOFCS) installed in the Arjun MBT?

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 02 Sep 2007 00:19

SonarDeshi wrote:
When can one expect to see this Electro-optical fire control system (EOFCS) installed in the Arjun MBT?

Errr.. as soon as some one slaps a Propeller on Arjun and starts pretending that they are sailing a destroyer instead of driving an MBT..

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 02 Sep 2007 00:34

Sonar saheb, please see the EOFCS!

Also gents- read the entire document, many interesting snippets- including CIFF.

skher · Post by **skher** » 02 Sep 2007 01:06

Pardon the glitch.
It just seemed a good idea the Arjun should some equivalent of EOFCS system whereby it too could (quote) 'detects hostile target using a daylight CCD camera or a thermal imager, track it, and finally engage it with the {tank} gun'.
Is such a system already in place for the MBT?

mandrake · Post by **mandrake** » 02 Sep 2007 01:13

SonarDeshi wrote:Pardon the glitch.
It just seemed a good idea the Arjun should some equivalent of EOFCS system whereby it too could (quote) 'detects hostile target using a daylight CCD camera or a thermal imager, track it, and finally engage it with the {tank} gun'.
Is such a system already in place for the MBT?

Yes without a TI how would a tank engage at night?

Jcage does this thing tracks using only the electro Optical instruments or there are other various sensors? any idea of the generation of TI used? 3rd? or 2nd?

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 02 Sep 2007 01:23

SonarDeshi wrote:Pardon the glitch.
It just seemed a good idea the Arjun should some equivalent of EOFCS system whereby it too could (quote) 'detects hostile target using a daylight CCD camera or a thermal imager, track it, and finally engage it with the {tank} gun'.
Is such a system already in place for the MBT?

The Arjun already has an Integrated Fire control system with a 2nd gen TI and a daylight Gunners Primary Sight.

Jcage does this thing tracks using only the electro Optical instruments or there are other various sensors? any idea of the generation of TI used? 3rd? or 2nd?

Joey, think of it as a scaled up version of the Arjuns IGMS, because in a manner of speaking thats what it is most similar to.
It has a CCD - ok, camera for long range daylight viewing, a laser range finder to range, and a Thermal imager (2nd Gen) to supplement the daylight Optics. Plus an autotracker, to keep a fast manouevering target locked onto. The data from the surface search radar and other instruments plus the EOFCS can be combined and presented to the crew on the bridge.

vsudhir · Post by **vsudhir** » 04 Sep 2007 03:43

x-posted from the psy-ops page.

Guns, not butter (IE edit)

Posted online: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 at 0000 hrs
Maybe DRDOâ€™s work has civilian spin-offs. But the real issue is its core incompetence.

If the defence ministry is really serious about reforming the DRDO it should ask one question: how come India has produced world-class professionals in software, biotechnology, medicine, but is such a hopeless also-ran in producing defence researchers? You donâ€™t need NCAER to come up with the explanation. The one-word answer is DRDO.

The DRDO is an ordinary, slow-footed sarkari daftar that employs five non-scientists for every scientist. The list of expensive failures in the DRDOâ€™s research projects is well known. Indian armed forces commanders know the less publicised but perhaps more damaging DRDO â€˜successesâ€™ â€” the 105 mm field gun is one example.

Another vile attack on DRDO by the IE lifafa team. The campaign has miraculously revived itself.

Comes right in the face of the GSLV blastoff.

Just what exactly is happening here, anybody? Anyone in the know?

A Sharma · Post by **A Sharma** » 04 Sep 2007 17:19

The TACAN (tactical air navigation) Unit 2901A indigenously developed by
SLRDC, Avionics Division, Hyderabad is installed and flight-tested successfully on Su-30 and Jaguar. The total indigenous TACAN Design and Development has been carried out in 36 months by developing one functional unit, two SoF (Safety of Flight) cleared units and one QT (Qualification Testing) unit. The SoF Unit was successfully integrated on Jaguar JS126 aircraft at ARDC, Bangalore. The Flight Trials have been completed at Ambala, Haryana for evaluating system parameters -Bearing, Maximum Range, Station Identity. The system was successfully tested on Su-30 at Pune for its functionality and getting many orders (60 sets for 2007-08) from Air Force. The project has also been successfully completed for Jaguar, which gives a financial return of Rs 18 crores for 2007-08 inclusive of test equipment. The integration on aircraft is completed for the export order for MiG 29k developed at Russia for Indian Navy. Order for LCA of 10 numbers is in progress for this financial year 2007-08. This unit is extensively used for air refueling in Air-to-Air mode.
Link

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 04 Sep 2007 17:21

vsudhir wrote: Just what exactly is happening here, anybody? Anyone in the know?

I am not in the know; but I have noticed that the attack on DAE for not providing enough nuke energy and the stalling of 123 thanks to the left all are happening close together.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 04 Sep 2007 17:25

A Sharma wrote:The TACAN (tactical air navigation) Unit 2901A indigenously developed by
SLRDC, Avionics Division, Hyderabad is installed and flight-tested successfully on Su-30 and Jaguar. The total indigenous TACAN Design and Development has been carried out in 36 months by developing one functional unit, two SoF (Safety of Flight) cleared units and one QT (Qualification Testing) unit. The SoF Unit was successfully integrated on Jaguar JS126 aircraft at ARDC, Bangalore. The Flight Trials have been completed at Ambala, Haryana for evaluating system parameters -Bearing, Maximum Range, Station Identity. The system was successfully tested on Su-30 at Pune for its functionality and getting many orders (60 sets for 2007-08) from Air Force. The project has also been successfully completed for Jaguar, which gives a financial return of Rs 18 crores for 2007-08 inclusive of test equipment. The integration on aircraft is completed for the export order for MiG 29k developed at Russia for Indian Navy. Order for LCA of 10 numbers is in progress for this financial year 2007-08. This unit is extensively used for air refueling in Air-to-Air mode.
Link

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 04 Sep 2007 19:50

vsudhir wrote:Another vile attack on DRDO by the IE lifafa team. The campaign has miraculously revived itself.

Comes right in the face of the GSLV blastoff.

Just what exactly is happening here, anybody? Anyone in the know?

Not so hard at all. Shekhar Gupta's lifafigiri is well known.

Read above in conjunction with this:

http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/i ... 5220070830

India said to set high bar for big fighter buy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - India has set a tough challenge for the six companies invited to bid on the world's biggest fighter jet contract in years, the just-retired head of Pentagon arms sales said on Thursday.

I think there's a lot of concern in industry" about the 50 percent requirement for such deals, known as offsets, said retired Lt. Gen. Jeffey Kohler, who stepped down on Wednesday as chief of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

Establishing a process for proper crediting of the newly created business with the Indian defense ministry and integrating new production would be a "big challenge," he said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

In addition, Kohler said there were questions about whether companies such as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, which would be a primary beneficiary, could absorb all the new opportunities to be sent its way.

Saala lifafa....no wonder IE ka top kutta itna bhauk rahan hain..yahan thak khi IE main jo iske khilaf jaate hain un par bhi bhauk tha hain..is liye Ranjan or Aroor jaise altoo faltoo paltoo kaam main aye.

As I mentioned once before, DRDO, DAE, PSUs are gatekeepers...they decide who gets what and play tough when it comes to tech.

The only way for these chaps to make it happen is to attack their credibility.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 04 Sep 2007 20:33

how exactly is TACAN used for air-air refuelling?

Ananth · Post by **Ananth** » 04 Sep 2007 21:44

JCage wrote: Not so hard at all. Shekhar Gupta's lifafigiri is well known.

Slurper Duppatta has a personal axe to grind. When he was wet-behind-the-ears journo, he was taken to cleaners by DRDO junta. I think the story was something along these lines: Just on the basis of one off-the-record comment by scientist(s) affliated with IGDMP, he went to his editor at IT that whole IGDMP will be operationalized by early 90s. IT came up with a cover story based on that tip. When it turned out to be vacuous-claim, it took a toll on his reputation. IE is closely connected with this GoI, especially with Congress Indira. So usually it is pays to take note about the messages conveyed thru its pages. But on this occation the personal prejudice is too evident. Every believable lie needs to have some % of truth. It is true, if you go to DRDL you will find 9-5 chai-pani crowd. But you will also meet with dedicated junta. That part was unfortunately left out of the edit.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 04 Sep 2007 22:55

Re: EOFCS, the 20kms range for ship sized target quite agrees with Arjun's thermal imager range for tank sized objects. Or is it linear to compare? I guess, the next generation still improves upon what we have already.

Not heard about mmw integrated into Nag headed namicas. imho, most suitable to increase range of nags that are to be dhruved in the future.

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 04 Sep 2007 23:15

Ananth

Its not just that. Shekhar Dupatta is also a known shill for unkil. Note DAE didnt betray him, but he was riding horse on DAE to make sure their credibility was suspect and he was making several pliable journos churn out bilge on the same lines. Those who didnt ..
The chap has no ethics whatsoever, his hatred for DRDO is not as much as about his personal issue but word from "on high", DRDO and the DPSUs are the biggest obstacles to Dupatta's glorious tieup with Unkils apparatus where he will have power and pelft galore. Each time that is about to occur, the DRDO/SciCom guys come up with their inconvenient self reliance angle. So attack their credibility and make sure that they are disregarded- thats his issue. Note he is a bum chum of noted SAsia expert Stephen Cohen as well.

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 04 Sep 2007 23:16

SaiK wrote:Re: EOFCS, the 20kms range for ship sized target quite agrees with Arjun's thermal imager range for tank sized objects. Or is it linear to compare? I guess, the next generation still improves upon what we have already.

They both use similar gen detectors from the same company.

Not heard about mmw integrated into Nag headed namicas. imho, most suitable to increase range of nags that are to be dhruved in the future.

Its in the works, and a seeker has been developed, last we heard.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 06 Sep 2007 00:18

ISRO bleeds as scientists leave.

The country's premier space agency â€” ISRO â€” is bleeding. Droves of scientists are leaving for greener pastures with the result that ISRO is hiring scientists in a great hurry to replace hundreds of trained hands. Last year, it hired 354 fresh scientists, but 187 trained ones left the organisation. In other words, 53% scientists left ISRO compared to its intake.

The trend is only growing. Against a nearly similar level of fresh recruits in 2004 and 2005 (360 and 346), the number of those who left the organisation was 105 and 100. If you take all three years together, and you get a sense of the high level of attrition. In 36 months, ISRO has lost 392 scientists against 1,060 it has hired. This means almost 11 scientists are leaving every month. These disturbing figures were disclosed by the government in Parliament on Wednesday.

Minister in the PMO, Prithviraj Chavan, told the Lok Sabha that better money offered by private sector was the main reason for the rising attrition rate.

This trend is not unique to ISRO. The government has already admitted that a good number of scientists have quit the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) in recent years and it was finding it difficult to stem the outflow as the monetary incentive outside the government was much higher.

"The stupendous growth of IT and communications sector and the higher remunerative packages offered by the private sector are the main reasons for scientists/engineers to leave ISRO," Chavan said. The Department of Space (DoS), he said, had petitioned the Sixth Pay Commission for higher pay and incentives like performance-based increments and special allowances as one of the measures to retain talent. A similar request was made on behalf of the DAE.

But a Pay Commission source said they had received such petitions from "everyone". "Everyone is dangling the quit threat if salaries are not hiked substantially," he said. "It's too early to say, but we're not sure if all demands can be met, considering the expenses involved. Even if we recommend higher pay scales and a better incentive regime, it is up to the government to accept or reject the recommendations."

JCage · Post by **JCage** » 06 Sep 2007 00:38

>>But a Pay Commission source said they had received such petitions from "everyone". "Everyone is dangling the quit threat if salaries are not hiked substantially," he said. "It's too early to say, but we're not sure if all demands can be met, considering the expenses involved. Even if we recommend higher pay scales and a better incentive regime, it is up to the government to accept or reject the recommendations."

What idiots. These are strategic sectors for crying out loud.

Ananth · Post by **Ananth** » 06 Sep 2007 01:25

JCage wrote: What idiots. These are strategic sectors for crying out loud.

Bhat says you? Animal Husbandry strategic too! Who will give you milk? No milk, no Caphee!! Now how will ISRO work with NO CAPHEE?? I am warning, Lal jhanda is in closet.

skher · Post by **skher** » 06 Sep 2007 23:27

JCage wrote:>>But a Pay Commission source said they had received such petitions from "everyone". "Everyone is dangling the quit threat if salaries are not hiked substantially," he said. "It's too early to say, but we're not sure if all demands can be met, considering the expenses involved. Even if we recommend higher pay scales and a better incentive regime, it is up to the government to accept or reject the recommendations."

What idiots. These are strategic sectors for crying out loud.

The Dept. of Space and DAE are directly under the PMO,right?

Why can't the PM's office finance pay packages and individual IP/patent/ToT marketing rights of a few hundred vitally brilliant scientists?

Come on,these 500 odd chaps are involved in most critical sectors of State enterprise.These PhDs should get more than a BA pass babu.

The suggestions of Sengupta Committee pertaining to this issue for DRDO shld be extended to Space and Atomic Energy as well.

The pay commission is wary as it could sett a precedent...useless chaprisis,time wasters,unionists and phixers will hold govt. hostage[courtesy Left] for not increasing pay concurrently.

Rudranath · Post by **Rudranath** » 08 Sep 2007 11:06

Pilotless Aircraft LAKSHYA inducted
[quote]
So far, 23 Pilotless Target Aircraft Lakshya have been inducted into the defence services. The production cost of one aircraft is Rs. 293.75 lakh. Some countries, like Singapore, Malaysia and Israel have expressed interest for â€œpaid demonstrationâ€

maitya · Post by **maitya** » 09 Sep 2007 16:15

A Sharma wrote:DRDO Newsletter Aug 2007

A patent has been granted by the European Patent Office on Transmit / Receiver Module for Active Phased Array Antenna that has been developed by Electronics Research & Development Establishment ( LRDE), Bangalore. Dr UK Revankar, Sci G (now at DARE); Late KT Sophy, Sci E; K Sreenivasulu, Sci D and KM Veerabhadra, Sci D are associated with this invention.

This T/R modules are L-band or X-band? If L-band it's pretty old news - however if it's X-Band, that'd be pretty interesting.

JC, you did confirm that some X-band T/R modules were/are devleoped and had reached some sort of milestone - care to elaborate pls (ofcourse, whatever can be publicly stated, that is)?

Tilak · Post by **Tilak** » 09 Sep 2007 23:09

Arjun tank's comparative trials called off
Ajai Shukla
Sunday, September 9, 2007 (New Delhi)

For three decades, India's Arjun tank project has struggled and has been scoffed at by experts and dismissed by the army.

The army, in fact, refused to accept the tank into service until comparative trials were held pitting the Arjun against the army's Russian T-72 and T-90 tanks.

But now, mysteriously the army has asked the Ministry of Defence to call off the comparative trials.

The T-72 has proved itself over years, says the army, and the T-90 is even better - only the Arjun needs to prove itself.

Meanwhile, the army is going ahead with buying 347 more T-90s paying a billion dollars to Russia. The army chief will be visiting Russia next week and the defence minister will follow next month.

The MoD itself had insisted on comparative trials before this turnaround. Now it says that you can't compare a 46-tonne T-90 with a 60-tonne Arjun.

But the men who built the tank in the Central Vehicles R&D Establishment in Chennai believe that's just an excuse to avoid comparative trials which would prove that Arjun is the best tank.

''People have been asking that question, how can you compare a 40 tonne class tank with a 60 tonne class tank, and I think the golden question is that irrespective of the weight and other features, if one is given a choice as to which tank he'd like to ride to battle, which tank would you choose?'' said Major General HM Singh, Additional DG, CVRDE.

This competitiveness is a sign of the Arjun's new confidence. After three decades of public criticism, the Arjun seems to have ironed out its defects.

''Over a period of five years, we have evaluated this tank in the deserts of Rajasthan. We have evaluated over 70,000 km of cumulative run with 15 tanks we have fired over 10,000 rounds,'' said R Jayakumar, Associate Director, CVRDE.

But success came only in 2005 after the Arjun hardened its electronics to work in the desert heat and fixed chronic suspension leakages.

The army then demanded that the tank be able to drive for 20 minutes under six feet of water, and that's been done too.

Now as the Arjun races over these rumble strips, it has logged up notable successes.

In the year 2000, the Indian Kanchan Armour proved itself in trials - a T-72 couldn't penetrate the Arjun even from point blank range.

Last June firing trials noted that the ''accuracy and consistency of the Arjun tank was proved beyond doubt.''

While the T-90 plans to install an air conditioner to keep its electronics working, the Arjun's electronics now work at up to 60 degrees.

The MoD admitted this year to the Parliament's Committee on Defence that the ''Arjun's firing accuracy is far superior to other two tanks.''

And that that ''MBT Arjun is specifically configured for Indian Army requirements, and the T-90 does not have some of the advanced features of MBT Arjun.''

But the Arjun's makers don't just want acceptance and a token order of 124 tanks.

They want the Arjun to be the backbone of India's 3500 tank fleet, and the comparative trials, they say, will prove the Arjun deserves that.

The MoD is backpedaling. It says the army could accept another 124 tanks of the improved Arjun and perhaps many more, if the army likes the tank.

''We have kept the option of producing another 124 of the better version of the Arjun tank. And when the army uses this tank, God knows, they may just fall in love with it and decide that the entire production line should be Arjuns only,'' said KP Singh, Secretary Defence Production.

The Army's opposition to the Arjun tank is partly the fault of the Arjun team. It took three decades to develop the tank and the generals lost faith in the project.

And today, with the Arjun ready to prove its worth the army seems unwilling to listen.

The only way out it seems, is for the Govt. to holding public hearings, with COAS and MOD babus wrt. Taxpayer money being spent.. No signs of accountability

Raymond · Post by **Raymond** » 09 Sep 2007 23:14

I think JCage deserves a huge box of mithai...

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 09 Sep 2007 23:20

^^^^

Excuse me!! am I reading right? Col. Ajai Shukla has something positive to say about Arjun (second time, first time we saw the NDTV report)!!!

Must be the beer I drank. I will read it again after cpl of hours.

maitya · Post by **maitya** » 09 Sep 2007 23:29

So the "Dabba" does bite, eh!!

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 09 Sep 2007 23:36

OMG..I just can't stop laughing...SHQ is seriously worried about quality of beer.

Heck I am going to open the Champagne..

Some one sober please explain to me, how the heck these MoD (read Army..or other Babus) keep a straight face while issuing such statements.

All in all, a good year till now for Indian Defence/Strategic Research establishment.May it continue the same way. God bless

''We have kept the option of producing another 124 of the better version of the Arjun tank. And when the army uses this tank, God knows, they may just fall in love with it and decide that the entire production line should be Arjuns only,'' said KP Singh, Secretary Defence Production

Oh BTW WTF is better version of Arjun? One which weighs less than 20 T, drives and shoots itself, can also act as submarine, used in place of a Tejas?

Now RMs statement to Loksabha makes some sense.