India’s shopping for lightweight mountain-friendly tanks post China tussles

16-Jul-20

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The government, amid border tensions with China, has given the army approval for emergency procurement of lightweight tanks that can be deployed in high-altitude conditions.
This will be a significant upgrade allowing the reintroduction of light tanks that can play a critical role in areas such as Ladakh, where they can be more nimble than the heavier main battle tanks.
The decision to go ahead with a new light tank is part of a series of major emergency procurements cleared by the government at a critical meeting last week.
This includes new loitering munitions from Israel, more Heron unmanned aerial vehicles, additional Sig Sauer assault rifles, man-portable surface-to-air defence missiles, Spike anti-tank guided missiles and a range of ammunition.
However, for emergency procurement, India will have limited options as few nations currently produce these tanks. While China is not an option, the US has embarked on a light tank under its Mobile Protected Firepower Program but it’s currently at prototype stage. Russia has the air-transportable Sprut SDM1 light tank that has commonalities with the T72 and T90s operated by India.
While India has a robust tank force, all of them are heavy main battle tanks — T72s, T90s and the Arjun,considered more suitable for operations in the plains. While these tanks have been sent to the Himalayan border as well, navigating them to difficult borders has been a major issue.
India has operated light tanks in the past that came in handy during the 1947-48 Kashmir operations as well as the 1962 war but these have been slowly phased out as the world moved to heavier armour.

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