(MENAFN- Asia Times) Russia is pitching its T-14 Armata main battle tank (MBT) to India to secure a place in New Delhi's next-generation tank program.
Russia is ready to share T-14 MBT technologies with India's next-generation MBT project, said Vladimir Drozhzhov, deputy director of the federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation at the 2023 Aero India exhibition, russian state-owned domestic news agency ria novosti reported .
“The Russian side plans to take part in the joint development of the Indian main battle tank using modern Russian technologies in the field of tank building,” said Drozhzhov, as quoted by the same source.
Drozhzhov also said that India has plans to announce an international tender for its next-generation MBT project, with its tactical and technical characteristics to be determined in the tender.
The offer is likely in line with Russia's efforts to save its beleaguered, export-oriented defense industry, which is facing multiple challenges including reliance on selling upgraded but obsolete Soviet-era designs, aging talent and Western sanctions imposed for its invasion of Ukraine.
asia times has reported on Russia's attempts to convince India to join its Su-75 5th generation light stealth fighter program.
However, it is not clear if Russia can convince India to participate in the program due to India's concern about Russia's ability to provide consistently aerospace components and payment issues due to Western sanctions.
New Delhi may also shy away due to its rising use of indigenous military technology, diversification of global weapons providers and indigenous 5th generation fighter program.
While Russia may have slim chances of convincing India to get aboard its Su-75 light fighter program, it may have better luck persuading it to partner in its T-14 MBT project.
A rendering of Russia's Su-75 Checkmate stealth fighter. Photo: Rostec
Russia no doubt seeks a place in India's Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV) next-generation future tank program, which aims to replace India's 40-year-old T-72s and upgraded T-90 derivatives and find alternatives to its troubled indigenous Arjun tank. The program aims to induct 1,700 units by 2030, the hindu reported in an august 2022 article .
The report notes that the FRCV will have increased survivability against asymmetric threats such as loitering munitions and drones, feature an active protection system and include improved intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
Furthermore, financial times reported in june 2021 that, aside for Russia, India had issued a request for information (RFI) to different MBT manufacturers.
Inquiries have reportedly been made to France for the Leclerc, South Korea for the K1, the US for the M1AX Abrams, Germany for the Leopard 2, Ukraine for the T-84 Oplot, Italy for the Ariete, Serbia's Yugoimport for the M-84, Israel for the Merkava, the UK for the Challenger 2 and Turkey for the Altay.
Although India's license-produced T-72s and T-90s remain the backbone of its armored forces, they face significant technical issues. in a 2017 article, the times of india notes that India's T-90 tanks broke down due to an apparent fan belt break during that year's International Army Games, resulting in a significant oil leak that caused India's disqualification from the competition.
Apart from those failures, Huma Siddiqui notes in an august 2020 financial times article that the T-90 suffers from“night blindness” in desert regions as its night vision equipment doesn't function well in high temperatures. The report said the tank's electronic systems have failed consistently in the desert heat.
India's T-72 was deployed during recent tensions with China on the two sides' Himalayan border. Credit: Handout
Although India has developed its indigenous Arjun tank, its viability is unclear. in a november 2021 article for the national interes t, Kyle Mizokami notes that India began developing the Arjun in 1972, but the tank wasn't ready for production until 2009.
Mizokami claims India's industrial base was nowhere near capable of producing a sophisticated main battle tank, on top of other problems such as bureaucracy and red tape. Moreover, Mizokami says that the Arjun's protracted development time led to major design decisions becoming obsolete as tank technology improved.
For example, he notes that GPS, laser warning receivers, non-explosive reactive armor (NERA) and other innovations were just research papers in the 1970s but had become must-haves by the 2000s, causing multiple redesigns for the Arjun. These developments led to a decades-long development death spiral, Mizokami writes, with the Arjun ending up as a mediocre rather than cutting-edge tank.
As such, Russia's T-14 might fill the bill for India. asia times has reported on the T-14's specifications, noting that it is a significant departure from Russia's Soviet-era tank designs.
The 55-ton T-14 is the first Russian tank with an unmanned turret. Its 3-man crew, meanwhile, is nestled in an armored capsule inside the hull, significantly increasing their survivability by isolating them from the tank's fuel and ammunition.
The tank is armed with a 125-mm smoothbore autoloading main gun, a 12.7 mm coaxial machine gun, and a 7.62 mm machine gun mounted on a remote-control weapon station (RCWS). It also features a three-tiered protection scheme with radar-absorbing paint and the optional Nakidka infrared (IR)-dampening cover, Afganit APS with hard and soft-kill systems, and Malakhit explosive reactive armor (ERA).
For situational awareness, the T-14 has a 360-degree commander's sight, thermal and night vision for both the commander and gunner's sights, a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera for the driver, and several hull cameras for 360-degree visual coverage.
The T-14 tank hasn't played a significant role in the Ukraine war. Credit: AFP photo.
In addition, the T-14 has a 1,500-horsepower diesel engine, is capable of network-centric operations, and is designed to operate as part of a self-contained module consisting of fighting and support vehicles.
At the same time, the T-14 has its own issues. For example, forces.net reported in a january 2023 article that while Russia has worked to deploy a small number of T-14 tanks in Ukraine, deployed Russian forces were reluctant to accept the tanks due to their“poor condition,” with Russian officials publicly describing problems in the T-14's engine and thermal imaging systems.
The source also notes that Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu described a 2022 production run of the T-14 as an“experimental-industrial” batch, which may imply that the tanks will not meet the usual standards to be certified as operational.