'A' Is for Aatmanirbhar
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‘A’ is for Aatmanirbhar The Arjun Mk.1A ordered (Photo: Vayu) lthough in military history, the For the next generation of MBTs, an firstly a 105 mm rifled-gun but later French had first begun working on entirely in-house design was then envisaged the bigger and powerful 120 mm rifled- armoured fighting vehicles, it was to meet the Army’s requirements. This gun. However, the failure to develop an Athe British who actually built what was was to be a contemporary of the German indigenous engine led to procurement of called a ‘tank’. When this debuted on the Leopard 2, American M1 Abrams and MTU engines to power the tank, called battlefield of Flers-Courcelette in World British Challenger 1 main battle tanks as the Arjun. Although the prototypes were War I, it shocked the Germans. Tanks also the Russian T-90s which were being ready by the late 80s, it was not until 2010 have thereafter dominated the battlefield inducted by their respective armies during when, after extensive trials, the Indian Army through World War II, the Korean War, the 1980-90s. placed an initial order, the 43rd Armoured the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan Wars, However, the Indian MBT programme Regiment receiving the first Arjun tanks in the Six Day War of 1967 and Yom Kippur faced several hurdles but the first significant limited numbers in the late 90s. It was in War of 1973, the Iraq-Iran War, the Gulf success was achieved by the Defence 2012 when an improved variant, the Arjun War and other battles. Metallurgical Research Laboratory which Mk.2 was conceived. Since independence in 1947, the Indian had developed the Kanchan armour, an The Arjun Mk.2 has since been renamed Army has operated British, French and advanced composite armour equivalent of as the ‘Mk.1A’, and after extensive trials Soviet-origin tanks. After the 1971 war, Burlington armour (a variant of Chobham it was ‘cleared’ for induction, the Prime the Government of India took a decision armour) developed by Army Research Minister Narendra Modi handing over to develop an indigenous main battle Laboratory, UK. Like the Chobham, the first Arjun Mk.1A to the Indian tank. India had already been producing Kanchan too saw new variants over the Army at Chennai on 14 February 2021. UK-designed Vijayanta tanks at the Heavy decades. Meanwhile, the Armament According to reports, the Mk.1A has 54.3 Vehicles Factory, Avadi which was a Research and Development Establishment per cent indigenous content and features 93 customised variant of the Vickers Mk.1A. (ARDE) developed an indigenous gun, improvements over its predecessor. II/2021 29.