APCs, Artillery & Tanks (T14 Armata, the new MBT!).

[TsarSamuil]

Arjun tanks ready for comparative trials with Russian T-90.

newkerala ^ | 27/05/209 | Praful Kumar Singh

The Defence Research and Development Organisation handed sixteen tanks (cumulative 45 Arjun tanks) to Lt. Gen. D. Bhardwaj, Director General Mechanised Force (DGMF), for formation of the first Arjun regiment at a function in Avadi today.

"The regiment of 45 tanks will be subjected to a conversion training and field practice for a period of three months. Thereafter, the Army is planning to conduct a comparative trial with T 90 tanks in October or November 2009 to assess the operational deployment role of the tanks. The present batch of 124 tanks will be delivered by March 2010," a Defence Ministry official told ANI.

The trials could deliver the final verdict on the combat vehicle, which took 35 years of research in self-reliance by dedicated Indian scientists against all odds, costing over Rs. 300 crore.

The DRDO has been demanding for the comparative trials of Arjun with T-90 tanks, which is being seen as an effort to meet criticism against the indigenous combat vehicle. Around 500 tanks would need to be manufactured to make the project successful.

The Army has made it clear that it will buy no more than the 124 Arjuns tanks that it has contracted for because it is unhappy with the tank on various counts.

"The Army cleared the acquisition of Arjun tanks after it carried out the Accelerated Usage Cum Reliability Trials (AUCRT) in five phases on two tanks from November 2007 to August 2008 covering more than 8000 km and 800 rounds of firing in each tank," the official said.

AUCRT is required for assessing the spares requirement for the entire life of the tank besides evaluation of reliability of tank.

The DRDO's Avadi-based Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) will manufacture a total of 124 Arjun MBTs at a cost of Rs. 1,760 crores. Of the total 124, CVRDE had already delivered 29 MBTs in two instalments till March this year.

Arjun tank was meant to supplement and eventually replace the Soviet-era T-72 MBT and was originally meant to be a 40-tonne tank with a 105 mm gun. It has now grown to a 50-tonne tank with a 120 mm gun.

Arjun tanks can fire at a range of 3-4 km and have great mobility and are equipped with high protection facility.

Arjun


T-90


Btw check this out!! Future tanks!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUP-s8fXsro&feature=channel_page

[TsarSamuil]

hmmm,
frontierindia.net/dissimilar-combat-arjun-mbt-vs-t-90s-specs

[TsarSamuil]

Russia to cut tanks by nearly 90% during armed forces reform.

MOSCOW. July 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The number of tanks belonging to the Russian armed forces will be cut to 2,000, a Russian Defense Ministry source told Interfax on Wednesday.

"As part of the armed forces reform, the General Staff endorsed the organizational structure of the Armor Forces within ground brigades and the Navy's coast forces. The Armor Forces will include two independent tank brigades and over 20 tank battalions within permanent alert brigades," the source said.

The independent tank brigades will be stationed in the Siberian and Moscow Military Districts, he said.

"The overall number of tanks of various versions, such as T-90, T-80, T-72 and others, will be reduced to 2,000. Thus, the number of tanks compared to 2005 will be cut by nearly 90%," he said.

Meanwhile, a former head of the Russian Defense Ministry's main armor department told Interfax on condition of anonymity that "the world has not yet invented an alternative to tanks as the Ground Forces' main striking force."

"The record of the Chechen campaigns and the two wars in Iraq shows vividly that it is impossible to win a ground battle without tanks. Therefore, tanks have been and will continue to be the main striking maneuvering force of attacking troops for at least ten years," he said. Before 2008, the Russian armed forces included tank divisions, regiments, and battalions.

A majority of Russian tanks are T-90s produced by Uralvagonzavod.

[TsarSamuil]

Video
www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-07-09/India_to_assemble_Russian__flying_tanks_.html

India to assemble Russian “flying tanks”

RussiaToday.com
09 July, 2009, 18:50

In July India is to begin assembly of Russia's main battle tank, the T-90. Up to now the country has bought only fully assembled tanks, but now it will build them with parts supplied by Russia.

The plan was announced at the Seventh International Exhibition of Arms, Military Equipment and Ammunition which is underway in the Urals.

Uralvagonzavod, based in Nizhny Tagil in the Sverdlovsk region, and Rosoboronexport, the state intermediary agency for export and import of military production, are going to start the serial assembly of T-90S tanks in India at the end of this month, said Plant Director General Oleg Siyenko.

“This is a long-term contract,” he said. “We will be supplying the tank sets in the period until 2015. Rosoboronexport and we plan to start the serial assembly of our products in India in late July. We will work on a full-scale maintenance center in India, as well.”

The T-90 is known as the “flying tank” for its maneuverability and speed.

The event showcases the most advanced weaponry on the market.

Another highlight at the show is the Tunguska-M1, a surface-to-air gun and missile system.

The organizers of the exhibition in Russia’s Nizhny Tagil also had other surprises in store. The Kord 12.7 6P50 heavy machine gun is a weapon that can be used against light armored vehicles. Known as “KORD,” the machine gun is manufactured by Degtyarev plant in different modifications.

This wonder of military engineering is capable of working in extreme conditions ranging from -50 to 50 Celsius. It is not afraid of mud or rain and, as developers say, a 12.7 mm gun can be very effective in combat.

“If, say, terrorists are hiding in a building, you don’t need tanks or anything. You just take this machine gun and destroy the building. You don’t risk the lives of soldiers,” said Roman Spirin, a designer at V.A. Degtyarev plant.

More than 400 companies and 44 foreign delegations are taking part in the exhibition, which also attracted thousands of spectators.

[TsarSamuil]

Chavez announces plans to double Venezuela's number of tanks.

na ^ | def | na

14:48 GMT, July 24, 2009 MOSCOW | Based on information of the state-run ABN news agency, RIA Novosti reports that President Hugo Chavez announced Venezuela will at least double the number of tanks in its military and continue strengthening its defense capability.

"We are going to buy more tanks to have an armored force at least twice the size of what we have today," Chavez said on national television on Thursday.

"We need to strengthen our forces on land, at sea, and in the air and we are going to continue doing that," he added.

The leftist president's announcement comes shortly after neighboring Colombia offered to accommodate more U.S. troops at its air and naval bases, which Chavez said was a serious threat to Venezuela's national security.

The Venezuelan army currently has more than 80 outdated French-made AMX-30 main battle tanks and several dozen AMX-13C light tanks.

Chavez, who has spent billions of dollars on weapons from Russia in recent years, confirmed that Caracas and Moscow were in talks to purchase Russian T-90 main battle tanks among other military equipment.

Between 2005 and 2007 Russia signed 12 contracts worth more than $4.4 billion to supply arms to Venezuela, including fighter jets, helicopters and Kalashnikov assault rifles.

[TsarSamuil]

Chavez to buy Russian tanks over U.S. troop buildup in Colombia.

MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said at a press conference the country plans to buy weapons and Russian tanks over a possible increase in U.S. military personnel in neighboring Colombia.

Chavez urged U.S. President Barack Obama not to increase the country's military contingent at bases in Colombia and said the move could lead to a war in the region.

"These bases [in Colombia] could become the beginning of a war in South America," Chavez said.

The United States and Colombia are currently holding talks which could see a boost in U.S. troop numbers at Colombian bases as part of a 10-year deal to help the country tackle its drug trafficking and terrorist problem. The U.S. would invest some $5 billion in the South American country's economy.

Venezuela has already spent around $4 billion on Russian arms, including helicopters, fighter planes, and Kalashnikov assault rifles since 2005.

"We plan to buy several battalions of Russian tanks," Chavez said during Wednesday's press conference.

Colombia is the only country on the continent where a powerful guerilla group - the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) - controls a large portion of territory. In the past, it controlled nearly two-thirds of Colombia, but its influence has dwindled by half. Despite its rhetoric, the organization has nothing in common with Che Guevara or Marxism, and is mainly involved in drug trafficking and kidnapping.

Relations between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela have been tense since Colombian troops attacked a FARC camp in Ecuador last year. As many as 24 guerrillas, including a senior commander of the FARC, were killed in the raid.

[TsarSamuil]

T-95

The T-95 is a future main battle tank, in development at the Russian Federation's Uralvagonzavod plant (designers of the T-72 and T-90 series, and the only Russian facility currently producing tanks). It was first reported by Jane's Defence Weekly in 1995, and announced by Russian official sources in 2000, but the tank has not been seen or photographed, and no concrete data has been released. It is due to be introduced in 2009, and production could be launched in 2010-2012.[1]

Characteristics

Most information about this tank is speculative. The tank is presumably a significant departure from the Soviet-era tanks currently in service. In particular, according to Moscow Defense Brief, it is expected to have a new hydropneumatic suspension with adaptive features, and the entire crew will be placed in a sealed compartment inside the hull, isolated from other tank components.[2]

Although no concrete information has been released, various websites have published descriptions and illustrations of a novel design. The main gun will reportedly be of 135 mm or 152 mm calibre (larger than the 105-120–125 mm guns in current main battle tanks) and will have a new multi-channel fire control system that works in optical, thermal, near IR, and radar spectrums.[2] The gun will be located in a remotely-controlled mount. Such an arrangement is anticipated to improve crew survivability compared to existing designs, because the crew compartment is separated from the ready ammunition supply, and also because the tank would be nearly completely hidden and protected in a hull-down position. The crew would number just three, all being carried within the hull itself.

The tank will reportedly be built on the principle of identical capabilities for both gunner and commander and fully supports the hunter-killer mode of operation, a unified command information system and tactical level automatic management system, and advanced active and passive defensive aids to protect the tank from various modern and future types of threat.[2]

Development and deployment

T-95 is a name given to the tank by media; it is not an official name.[2] According to published sources, development of a new tank called "Item 195" began at the Uralvagonzavod design bureau in the early 1990s.[2]

The prototype tank was announced by the Russian Minister of Defense in 2000. Another recent Russian prototype tank, the Black Eagle tank built by Omsk Transmash, appears to have been built only for the export market, not for Russian forces. In a recent editorial a Russian engineer stated that the T-95 is currently being tested and will begin entering service with the Russian army in 2009.[3]

On July 10, 2008 the Russian government announced that the Russian armed forces would start receiving new-generation tanks superior to the T-90 main battle tank after 2010. "The T-90 MBT will be the backbone of the armored units until 2025. T-72's and T-80's will not be modernized and will be eventually replaced by new-generation tanks, which will start entering service after 2010," Sergei Mayev, head of the Federal Service for Defense Contracts (Rosoboronzakaz) told a news conference.[4]

In a July 2008 article in Jane's Defence Weekly, analyst Christopher F. Foss stated that the tank is expected to have a 152 mm gun with an automatic loader in the chassis, but that it is uncertain whether it will sport a conventional turret or external gun mount.[5]

According to Moscow Defense Brief, T-95 has been in development for a long time, and the development has been delayed in part because of the workload imposed by the T-90 export contracts on Uralvagonzavod and the design bureau. The journal also points out, that "whether Russia’s defense industry is capable after fifteen years of near-paralysis of providing the Russian army with a high-technology product in the quantities it needs" remains an open question.[2]

[TsarSamuil]

Indian army receives first T-90 tanks made under Russian license.

NEW DELHI, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - India's defense industry handed over to the army on Monday the first ten T-90 Bhishma main battle tanks assembled under a Russian license at a domestic plant, Indian media reported.

The Indian Army was the first export customer for the T-90s, which have been in service with the Russian Armed Forces since the mid-1990s. India ordered 310 T-90s in 2001 following delays in the manufacturing of the indigenous Arjun main battle tank and Pakistan's decision to purchase the T-80 from Ukraine.

An agreement was also signed for the licensed production of another 1,000 T-90s. However, production was delayed due to Russia's reluctance to transfer technology, prompting India to purchase another 300 tanks from Russia last year.

Licensed production of the tanks had earlier stalled due to a disagreement with Russia over transfer of technology, which was resolved at the end of 2008.

The Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi, near Chennai, plans to produce 100 tanks per year.

The T-90 is equipped with 125 mm smooth-bore gun, 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun and 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun supported with high accuracy sighting systems, and automatic loader for higher firing rate.

It also features sophisticated protection from chemical, biological and nuclear attacks.

Local media cited Indian Minister of State for Defense Pallam Raju as saying on Monday that domestic production T-90 tanks was an "important milestone" for the Indian army and a step towards attaining self-sufficiency in its preparedness.

According to open sources, about 700 T-90 tanks have been deployed so far with six armored regiments in northern and central India.

[TsarSamuil]

Russian military denies existence of new 'super-tank'

MOSCOW, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian military has denied the existence of a new-generation main battle tank (MBT) based on T-80 design and featuring explosive reactive armor and a box-shaped turret.

The Russian media has recently resumed discussion of the secret tank, dubbed Black Eagle, which was developed by the Omsk Transmash design bureau and whose pictures were shown in several publications and on the Internet.

"There was no such project...and those 20-year-old pictures show a mock-up of a futuristic tank which remained just a product of someone's imagination," Col. Vladimir Voitov, head of research at the Main Directorate of the Armored Troops, said in an interview with the Echo Moskvy radio on Saturday.

He added that he was aware of a prototype of an experimental tank, but insisted that 'the turret of the vehicle did not have anything inside."

According to the Russian media, an early prototype of the Black Eagle was shown at an arms exposition in Siberia, in June 1999. It appeared to be based on a lengthened T-80U hull, and to have very thick front armor and new-generation Kaktus explosive reactive armor.

However, recent reports in open sources suggest that the Black Eagle program has been halted due to the acceptance of the T-90, built by the Uralvagonzavod plant, into the Russian military in the mid-1990s.

In addition, Russia has reportedly opted for Uralvagonzavod as the developer and manufacturer of a new-generation MBT, which will most likely have a designation as T-95.

Sergei Mayev, head of the Federal Service for Defense Contracts (Rosoboronzakaz) told a news conference in July 2008 that the Russian Armed Forces would start receiving new-generation tanks superior to the T-90 main battle tank after 2010.

The new tank will feature better firepower, maneuverability, electronics and armor protection than the T-90 MBT.

Its speed will increase from 30-50 kph to 50-65 kph (19-31 mph to 31-40 mph).

According to some sources, the new tank may be equipped with a 152-mm smoothbore gun capable of firing guided missiles with a range of 6,000-7,000 meters.

In comparison, the T-90 MBT has a 125-mm 2A46M smoothbore gun, which can fire AT-11 Sniper anti-tank guided missiles with a range of 4,000 meters.

[TsarSamuil]

The Arjun tank faces it biggest trial.

Space War ^ | 1/5/2010 | UPI via Space War

India's Arjun tank will battle for its life against a squadron of Russian T-90s in trials likely to determine the controversial vehicle's future.

The long-awaited trials, which start in March, will pit the 14 indigenous Arjuns against the 14 T-90s, day and night for a month, according to the national Business Standard newspaper.

The 24th Infantry Division stationed in Bikaner will conduct the trials in the rugged deserts of the northern state of Rajasthan, around the cities of Bikaner, Suratgarh and also Pokhran, the site of India's first nuclear bomb test in May 1974.

The performance of tanks and their crews will be monitored. Vehicle speed, accuracy in firing while on the move, ability to operate over long distances and fatigue on crews will be observed, the Business Standard article said.

Media reports last fall said the army had purchased an initial 124 Arjuns and was considering it as a replacement for "hundreds" of its T-90s. More than 390 T-90s were ordered in 2001 as a stopgap until the Arjun was made ready. But continued performance and manufacturing problems with the Arjun prompted the army to order another 347 T-90s last November as part of the country's fleet of about 4,000 tanks.

However, the Business Standard article said the army is not now looking to replace its T-90s with the Arjun and so is not calling the trials "comparative." The T-90 is expected to be in service for around 30 years. Instead, the Arjun is a potential successor to the army's aging Russian T-72, of which it has around 2,400.

The T-90 is not on trial, the army said. Performance of the Arjun is.

The strengths and weaknesses of the Arjun are under evaluation "to help the army decide what operational role the Arjun could play and which sector of the border it could effectively operate in," the Standard article said.

"The outcome could decide whether the Indian army will ride Indian tanks into future battles or continue its reliance upon a heavily criticized fleet of Russian T-72 tanks, which even the army chief admits is 80 percent blind at night, when most tank battles occur."

Hope for the Arjun tank's future were raised last October when the army confirmed its order for 124 from the manufacturer Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi and the Defense R&D Organization, which developed the Arjun tank at the Central Vehicles R&D Establishment at Chennai.

A report in The Hindustan Times at the time said that the Arjun -- 35 years in the making -- had been plagued with a number of major problems concerning its fire control system, suspension and poor mobility due to its excessive weight, coming in at just under 60 tons. The T-90s weigh in at around 45 tons.

While the news of the trials is welcomed by the DRDO, there is also some frustration. "The army knows that the T-72 would have performed very poorly in trials against the Arjun," a senior DRDO officer is quoted by the Standard as saying.

"Despite that, the army continues to sink money into its 2,400 outdated T-72s. Any comparative trial with the T-72 would make it clear that the Arjun should replace the T-72."

Doubts about the usefulness of the trials were noted by retired Maj. Gen. H.M. Singh, the "father of the Arjun," according to the Standard article. It will be impossible to measure the tactical performance of 14 Arjun tanks.

"There are too many variables, including the skill of the tank crews and colored perceptions of the judges," said Singh. "A comparative trial should be a scientific comparison of each tank's physical performance in identical situations."

The Arjun measures just under 33 feet long and 12 feet wide. Armor is a Kanchan steel-composite sandwich development. A 1,400 horsepower diesel engine gives it an operational range of 280 miles with a speed of 45 mph on roads and 25 mph cross-country.

The 120mm rifled main turret gun can fire the LAHAT anti-tank missile. Secondary armaments are a MAG 7.62mm Tk715 coaxial machine gun and an HCB 12.7mm AA machine gun.

The Arjun is named after one of the main characters of the Indian epic poem the Mahabharata. The discussion of life and karma is the longest epic poem in the world, being roughly 10 times the length of the Iliad and Odyssey combined.

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Oh, the Mahabharata it mentions the proto-Bulgarians.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia may unveil new 'super-tank' in summer 2010.

Russia's new main battle tank (MBT), the T-95, could be exhibited for the first time at an arms show in the Urals Region this summer, the developer and future manufacturer of the tank has said.

The development of the new tank dubbed "Item 195" began at the Uralvagonzavod design bureau in the early 1990s. Russia will become the first country in the world to have the 5th-generartion MBT if the military commissions the vehicle.

"The work on the project has been conducted for many years. If the government gives us a 'green light' we will exhibit the tank at the [Russian Expo Arms 2010] arms show in Nizhny Tagil this summer," general director of the Uralvagonzavod plant Oleg Siyenko told RIA Novosti in an exclusive interview.

"I cannot disclose the characteristics of the tank, but I can assure you that we have met all the requirements put forward by the military," he said.

According to unofficial sources, the T-95 will feature better firepower, maneuverability, electronics and armor protection than Russia's latest T-90 MBT or comparable foreign models.

It will weigh about 55 tons and its speed will increase from 30-50 kph to 50-65 kph (19-31 mph to 31-40 mph).

The new tank may be equipped with a 152-mm smoothbore gun capable of firing guided missiles with a range of 6,000-7,000 meters.

In contrast to existing designs, the gun will be located in a remotely-controlled turret to improve 3-men crew survivability.

Meanwhile, the T-90 MBT, developed in the 1990s on the basis of the T-72B tank, will be the backbone of the armored units until 2025, according to the Russian military.

Russia currently produces up to 100 T-90 MBTs annually and plans to have at least 1,500 vehicles in service with the Ground Forces.

MOSCOW, March 26 (RIA Novosti)

[TsarSamuil]

PDF file, about the t-95,
www.newaustralia.net/T-95%20Tank.pdf

[TsarSamuil]

Only real pic of T-95...that gun does seem a bit small though..

[TsarSamuil]

Vid,
rt.com/Top_News/2010-06-07/russian-apc-btr-test.html

Next stage Russian APCs passing final tests.

RussiaToday.com
07 June, 2010, 07:40

The family of famous Russian armored infantry vehicles is awaiting addition – the newest member beats all previous standards and is already on the shopping lists of foreign military consumers.

Russia is currently in the midst of a top-to-bottom modernization of its entire military forces, dragging them into the 21st Century, and this vehicle is one of its first products. This one looks set to be in high demand, as were previous models, which have been used by more than 30 countries around the globe.

The latest offering is faster, more powerful and, crucially, much more effective.

“Now we have set a stabilizing fin! Now it is possible to hit a target without stopping – we had to stop before to take aim manually,” said Aleksandr Masyagin, BTR chief designer. “And we also have an automatic targeting system.”

Just as the BTR family designed the armored personnel carrier to carry troops to the battlefield, today's designers have focused chiefly on the safety of those onboard.

Chief designer Aleksandr Masyagin pointed out that “there’s neither a frontline, nor rear area in modern conflict. Shots are fired from all directions – and this carrier is protected from each side, while the previous models only had strong front protection. We take pride in our anti-fragment protection. When a carrier was hit before, or when it was mined, fragments moved freely inside and could easily wound people. Now they get stuck in the thick cover.”

Valery Buzuev has been a test-driver for many BTR vehicles for years. He says the recent modification is not one, but rather three, steps forward.

“The carrier is very easy to drive – it’s the same as driving a car. When you turn the wheel to the right, you drive to the right. Visibility is good – we used to have to stick our heads out to take a look at where we were driving. Another plus is the incredible stability and very high passing ability,” Buzuev shared.

These machines virtually have no limits – they can easily climb up hills, go through deep mud and even swim.

“If you compare our APCs with foreign carriers of the same type, they have the same capabilities, but they are much cheaper. Thus, they are sure to be competitive,” assured managing director Vasily Shupranov.

The company has a number of foreign contracts on the new model that is fast gaining a global reputation. But Russia's Army will be the first to get to try out the latest offer.

[TsarSamuil]

2s19 msta-s 152 mm self-propelled howitzer, wonder what happened to those..