BUB: The Pride of India's Military

Here's a quick dash through India's current forces...

Looks like the home-made tank might be better than the Russian one that they've contracted for a crapload of...

The Indian Army was recently compelled to conduct a field test between the domestically designed (and largely rejected) Arjun tank, and the Russian T-90 (now considered the army's primary tank). Fourteen of each tank were used, and the results were classified. But journalists had no trouble getting unofficial reports that the Arjun managed to best the T-90 in tests of mobility, endurance and gunnery. This was unusual because, until now, the Arjun was considered an expensive and embarrassing failure.

Development of the Arjun began in the 1980s, and until four years ago, the army had received only five of them, for evaluation purposes. The evaluation did not go well. Originally, the Arjun was to have replaced thousands of Russian tanks, but after so many delays, the army only reluctantly accepted 128 Arjuns (equipping the 140th Armored Brigade). If the new test reports are to be believed, there will be renewed pressure on the army to buy more Arjuns. This pits the Defense Ministry weapons development and procurement bureaucrats against the generals.

All this assumes that the Arjun has really fixed all the problems it was having with its electronics. In this case, it was the fire control system. But Arjun has also had problems with its engine, and that fact that its size and weight prevents it from being used with current tank transporters.

Meanwhile, last year, an Indian factory delivered the first ten (of a thousand) T-90 tanks to the Indian Army. The Russian designed armored vehicles are being built in India under license. Many of the components are Indian made, and some of the electronics are imported from Western suppliers. The Indian made T-90s cost about $3 million each. India has already bought 700 Russian made T-90 tanks, at a cost of $3.5 million each.

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The Navy, meanwhile, is showing off the INS Shivalik, due to be commissioned this week.

INS Shivalik, the stealthiest Indian warship, so far, will be commissioned by the Indian Navy on April 29.
The indigenously built multi-role frigate is the first of the 3-ship Project-17 frigates constructed at the Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and conceptualised by the Directorate General of Naval Design.

The Shivalik class frigate is a modified version of the Russian Project 1135.6 Talwar (Krivak III) class frigates.

The construction of the frigate began in the year 2000 and the keel was laid on 11 July, 2001. It was launched on 18 April 2003.

The 143-metre-long warship, with 6,000-tonne displacement, has a versatile control system and external control system with signature management and radar cross section reduction features. The total length of the ship is 143 meters while its breadth is 17 meters and has a maximum speed of 30 knots.

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Not to be left out, the Indian air force is upgunning 40 of their fighter jets with BrahMos missiles.

BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, which is a joint venture of India and Russia, will be fitted on the Indian Air Force's 40 Su-30MKIs fighter aircraft. CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace Dr AS Pillai said: "The inclusion of BrahMos cruise missile will make the aircraft unique in firepower."
Dr Pillai was speaking to a Russian news agency at the Defence Services Asia-2010 exhibition here.
He also added that the first trials of the air-launched version were set for 2011 and the first test-flight with the missile on-board is scheduled for 2012.

By: Brant