Zorawar: Light tank for Indian army

Ankit Kumar said:
Anything which cannot be on the front of an armour thrust into enemy territory is not a tank.

It's Tanks followed by IFVs supported by APCs/Recons/Engineers.

Can this be used against a direct thrust against a Chinese Tank/armour formation? If not, then it's an Infantry Fire Support Vehicle.
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It's meant to support the infantry, not armour. It is meant to be used in places where enemy battle tanks cannot operate.
Rajput Lion said:
APS is a must for survivability of this Tank. Let's hope that it proves effective against the Chinese Type-15. We also need T-72 and T-90 with uprated engines to work properly at high Himalayan altitudes.

@randomradio

Will this light Tank use the NG-ERA developed by DRDO? If yes, then its armour protection should suffice(not too sure though!).
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Gottta give it more time for info to come out. Everything today is just speculation based on existing designs like the K-21/105.
 
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Ankit Kumar said:
IA cries so much on Arjun's weight. First I am actually interested to see how they keep the weight to just 25 tons.

Because even for STANAG 5 level protection, no so called light tank weighs below 33 tons combat ready.

The only actual exception is the BMD series or Sprut tank.
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We don't know if they want it amphibious as well as air-dropped, or just amphibious.
 
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Power to weight ratio of light tank going to be significant . Most of the tank have power to weight ratio of 18-24 . Here the ratio ll be more than 30 . Better agility , rapid deployment ll help fight and break enemy defence in bad terrains . Imagin chinese coming up with their light tanks to areas where we have no tank availability for up to 10/20 km .
 
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kharabela said:
Power to weight ratio of light tank going to be significant . Most of the tank have power to weight ratio of 18-24 . Here the ratio ll be more than 30 . Better agility , rapid deployment ll help fight and break enemy defence in bad terrains . Imagin chinese coming up with their light tanks to areas where we have no tank availability for up to 10/20 km .
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Army said that the minimum it wants is 25 hp/ton. I don't think it would be economical for bidding companies to go beyond 28 hp/ton.

25hp/Ton for 25 ton tank with 10% allowance in weight comes to a 687.5hp engine. Let's say for better performance they go for 28 hp/ton. That comes to 770hp.

Given that the MTU is 820hp engine. Seems good enough.
 
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Ankit Kumar said:
Army said that the minimum it wants is 25 hp/ton. I don't think it would be economical for bidding companies to go beyond 28 hp/ton.

25hp/Ton for 25 ton tank with 10% allowance in weight comes to a 687.5hp engine. Let's say for better performance they go for 28 hp/ton. That comes to 770hp.

Given that the MTU is 820hp engine. Seems good enough.
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Zorawar power to weight ratio ll be 32 if its 25 tons . It might vary from 30-32 tons . k21 got 29.2 .
 
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kharabela said:
Zorawar power to weight ratio ll be 32 if its 25 tons . It might vary from 30-32 tons . k21 got 29.2 .
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Rajput Lion said:
Read somewhere that DRDO plans to equip Zorawar with a 1000hp engine. That would give it a significant PtW ratio, IMO.
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DRDO is guaranteed only 1 regiment. For rest, it will not only have to compete on performance but on cost too.

That's why 1000hp engine is unnecessary.
 
Ankit Kumar said:
DRDO is guaranteed only 1 regiment. For rest, it will not only have to compete on performance but on cost too.

That's why 1000hp engine is unnecessary.
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Yeah earlier news was engine is 1000hp . Probably DRDO chief himself said few months back . They might have changed it to compete against others in terms of weight and cost . South korean one going to be prime rival as others have limitations with respect to elevation angle of fire . John cockerill 105 got a large elevation angle of -10 to +42 , necessary for targeting from valley and hill top . Chinese might have followed similar philosphy .
 
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kharabela said:
Yeah earlier news was engine is 1000hp . Probably DRDO chief himself said few months back . They might have changed it to compete against others in terms of weight and cost . South korean one going to be prime rival as others have limitations with respect to elevation angle of fire . John cockerill 105 got a large elevation angle of -10 to +42 , necessary for targeting from valley and hill top . Chinese might have followed similar philosphy .
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Hydropenumatic suspensions can provide more elevation and depression.

 
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Drdo L&T and South korean ADD have been silently working on a joint project for new tank armor. Its been going on for years and they did make a good progress according to the south koreans. they might go with it eventually. No one caught wind of it in India yet as usual.

The new armor is modular stronger and easier to produce mass produce, so my guess is it will be added on top later.

 
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Picdelamirand-oil said:
Yes, I don't quite understand the philosophy behind the specifications of this machine. Indeed, it seems very close to the philosophy that governed the development of the AMX 10 RC. But we are in the process of replacing the AMX 10 RC with the Jaguar EBRC, which seems to me to be quite different, particularly for its gun, which favours rapid salvo firing. I wonder if we are wrong or if you are.
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Europe has prepared roads. The Himalayas have no roads. Hence the importance of tracked over wheeled vehicles.

The Jaguar is for a different purpose, it helps pave the way for Leclercs into the battlefield. The Indian light tank is meant to take on similar threats as the Leclercs, while also being more mobile in difficult terrain.

Then there's elevation. The Himalayas terrain requires guns having elevation of more than 50deg. So 40+ will come with the gun and an extra 15deg will come via suspensions. A wheeled vehicle does not provide enough elevation.

Then there's stability and firepower elements, where tank-like firepower is necessary on terrain that can be very icy in some conditions. So tracks not only help mobility, but also provide stability and a more powerful gun. Plus tracks also mean a heavier hull and turret, which means higher vantage point, more armour and more electronics, like APS.

In any case, both types are required in the Himalayas. We have a Jaguar-equivalent called the Kestrel.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1559467490626768897
 
Ankit Kumar said:
Anything which cannot be on the front of an armour thrust into enemy territory is not a tank.
Click to expand...

A lot of vehicles that are not tanks move in before armour.

Ankit Kumar said:
It's Tanks followed by IFVs supported by APCs/Recons/Engineers.
Click to expand...

The opposite happens. A lot of support systems move in before the tank.

Ankit Kumar said:
Can this be used against a direct thrust against a Chinese Tank/armour formation? If not, then it's an Infantry Fire Support Vehicle.
Click to expand...

It's not a battle tank. Yes, it's meant to support the infantry, but it's no different from a T-90 regiment supporting an infantry division in regular ground units. Even this T-90 regiment is not meant to fight enemy armour formations. Only an armoured brigade/division does that. So would you consider T-90s connected to infantry divisions as IFVs?
Ankit Kumar said:
IA cries so much on Arjun's weight. First I am actually interested to see how they keep the weight to just 25 tons.

Because even for STANAG 5 level protection, no so called light tank weighs below 33 tons combat ready.

The only actual exception is the BMD series or Sprut tank.
Click to expand...

K21-105 Light Tank | Military-Today.com

The K21-105 is a new light tank. It was jointly developed by CMI Defence of Belgium and Doosan DST of South Korea. It seems that this vehicle was first publicly revealed in 2014.
www.military-today.com

It's 25T and is amphibious. STANAG Level 5.
 
Rajput Lion said:
APS is a must for survivability of this Tank. Let's hope that it proves effective against the Chinese Type-15. We also need T-72 and T-90 with uprated engines to work properly at high Himalayan altitudes.

@randomradio

Will this light Tank use the NG-ERA developed by DRDO? If yes, then its armour protection should suffice(not too sure though!).
Click to expand...

Could be possible.
 
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Sathya said:
Soon, 2 months & year end..

All 3 are acceptable...

Hopefully it ll not cross that..
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Yeah, but if you look at Turkey example, these things are actually also dependent on political will. It could be a case Govt/MoD asked to delay the reveal until the election year. CVRDE director Balamurugan sir was very confident the tank will rollout by April May ie right now, but without MoD approval he can only sit on a ready project.
Basically these are constraints people who are in the loop face, we outsiders or those who do not have experience in dealing in such matters will never understand why some projects are in delay/stuck for years.
 
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1689267695848726528

www.timesnownews.com

Indian Army May Have To Wait Longer For Light Tank | Details

The engines for the 24 ton prototype that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is readying will be by Cummins. The Army is keen on a light tank— for the mountains, parts of Gujarat, Punjab and parts of the East., India News, Times Now
www.timesnownews.com www.timesnownews.com
 
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