It's justified, yeah, but what were the generals smoking when they set unattainable requirements in the first place? Stuff like this reminds me that Parrikar's comment about the Army wanting Marvel comics weaponry was absolutely spot on.
Zorawar: Light tank for Indian army
- Thread starter Ashwin
- Start date
Just wondering how will they do that, will IA accept it being overweight, will it affect MTA?
I don't know why they always end up screwing up things like this. Even when they are directly involved in a project from design phase. They should have known that at 25 ton it's not possible to get such protection. But, hey who knows maybe DRDO peeps said it's doable. They also have a habit of overpromising.
But regardless this is a mess. I don't know how will DRDO and L&T folks would be able to increase the protection while staying within the limit. We haven't heard anything from IA yet regarding what kind of protection they really want? Is it just level 5-6 frontal arc or higher protection all side?
If it is just higher protection on the front correct me if I'm wrong maybe it's doable within the weight limit..
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Lvl 5/6 frontal 60° arc, preferably lvl 4 sides, lvl 2 for non-imp stuff and preferably lvl 3B/4 blast.
Then also add optional ERA and other add-ons.
I see. Also how modular is Zorawar? Like can they simply transport Panels separately and replace the armour modules on the fly? That too would keep it within 25 tons right for it to be air transportable?
It's add-on slop.
You have a paper thin UHHS steel hull and then all the panels on top. Nothing integrated, but that's just the style nowadays.
So yea pretty modular.
Even Arjun for that matter is kinda modular. The turret shape is largely due to add-on kanchan armour modules welded to the turret shell (but it has thick steel) but they might not be so easily removable.
It was like they suddenly had an epiphany. You know what....25 tons won't cut it and we need better protection. Well at the very least they caught it while it was in development. It could have happened when the production lot was being inducted and that would have been the "real disaster" /s.
This is the wrong time. The thing was supposed to head to user trials. They just wasted 2 years trying to develop two prototypes.
Project and delivery timelines can always be adjusted - this is an attitude that has long been present within the entire def. setup. IA certainly does not seem to be in a hurry. I am sure that this delay will be justified well in the files that move about in the MoD and at Army HQ.
Add APS and the weight goes up even further. Perhaps they can replace the Cockerill 3015 with an indigenous 105mm unmanned turret?
This would make it theoretically possible to fit a pop-up 2 round ATGW launcher instead of the external box launcher at present.
This would make it theoretically possible to fit a pop-up 2 round ATGW launcher instead of the external box launcher at present.
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So far what info we have it seems they went the weight to remain around 25 tons. Maybe it's doable if DMRL folks could make a very light armour somehow. I don't see anything in the market out there which meets those requirements at all. Most the stuff available have even weaker protection.
I hope that they know what they are doing. I have not seen any LT that meets these requirements either. The less I say, the better. These things can be avoided yet they continue to happen in a cyclical manner.
Why doesn't our media and social media hound army and MoD in such instances? They must be made to answer why the requirements changed so late.
Technically army can say they haven't changed the requirement wrt protection. Because it was always very vague on RFI. And our media is very uneducated about these things. Same with our opposition. They might even ruin the situation more than solve it with their stupidity.
Even defence blogs stay silent on this. Sad that defence social media isn't holding army responsible.
Let's see where this goes. Hopefully it get inducted beyond 59. That reminds me if I would be Baba Kalyani i would be watching all these very carefully. They are also working on a light tank afterall. In twist of fate they might end up stealing the rest of the 295 from L&T if they play their cards well..
What if we remove the turret, that will reduce 5 tons
It's mostly filled with low effort rage baiter & jai ho type folks. There are very folks there who writes quality article and threads. So, most of the SM won't do much to attract attention beyond what gives them engagement. Also, folks at power don't take SM seriously anyways because of the low quality discourse that goes there...
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How would that even work?
Btw this thing is 24-26 ton yet it has STANAG level 4 and 5 protection. So, maybe DMRL folks already have some ways to make very light armour
Vikram VT21 - Wikipedia
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