Indian Army, backed by DAC approval, has launched the process for the procurement of 118 local-made Arjun Mk-1A main battle tanks.
The Arjun is a third-generation main battle tank developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), for the Indian Army. The development of the tank began in 1972 by the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), a laboratory of DRDO. The first batch of 16 production version Arjun tanks was received in 2004 and they were provided as a squadron to the 43 Armoured Regiment. The regiment was later made up to 45 tanks on 25 May 2009 making it the first Arjun regiment of the Indian Army.
The Arjun has a crew of four and is armed with one 120 mm rifled gun able to fire APFSDS (kinetic energy penetrator) rounds, HE, HEAT, High Explosive Squash Head (HESH) rounds at a rate of 6–8 rounds per minute. the gun of the Arjun is also capable to fire Israeli developed semi-active laser-guided LAHAT missile. The Arjun can carry 39 rounds in special blast-proof canisters. The second armament of the tank includes on 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on the commander hatch turret and one 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun.
India; Army orders 118 additional Arjun Mk1A tanks