Screaming Skull
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Arjun Tank has been certified by an Israeli company. A South American country has asked for a Request For Proposal for Arjun Tanks.
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Arjun Tank for Export? A South American Country Asks for Request for Proposal
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Screaming Skull
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Ok guys I found a conformation from the most reliable source available!
'The Hindu' is also reporting the same news. 
Thursday, Jun 04, 2009
The recent ceremony in Avadi, near Chennai, when 16 Arjun Main Battle Tanks were rolled out by its manufacturer, Heavy Vehicle Factory (HVF) — a part-supply for the 43rd regiment based in Rajasthan — brought cheers to those involved in the effort, both serving and retired alike.
Whether the cheers will last is a moot point as the Director-General Mechanised Forces (DGMF), who was present at the function, was silent about further orders for these tanks. HVF will complete the present and the only order so far by 2010 placed in the beginning of the decade. For long, it appeared that the Army firmly believed that having an indigenous tank in its stable was an idea whose time would never come. This will be evident if the course of history of even the past ten years, let alone the previous two decades, is traced.
Meeting standards
In 2004 the first pilot batch of tanks was handed over in the presence of the then Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee. The Army, however, insisted, before production could proceed, on incorporating stringent specifications for fording capabilities — the tanks being under water at 2.1 meters depth with only 30 minutes preparation time.
This too was successfully demonstrated in the presence of Mr A. K. Antony, Defence Minister, in 2007 as well, by the cooperative efforts of HVF and the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation). Not easily satisfied, the Army now felt it was necessary to carry out (ACURT) Accelerated Usage Cum Reliability Trials of a few tanks; in layman’s parlance, ‘Driving to death’ that includes running them for 8,000 km and firing 800 rounds of ammunition.
Ostensibly this was to work out the requirement of life-time spares although the same could have been done using advanced statistical methods, along with vendor inputs, extrapolating the vast experience of the Army in handling tanks of different vintages and designs since the Second World War. AURCT was also completed in August 2008 and modifications, as required by the experience gained, were successfully incorporated, and the first batch of tanks for this regiment was handed over in March 2009.
To reinforce the morale of HVF and the DRDO, a third-party audit by an independent international tank manufacturer certified that the Arjun was an excellent warhorse, particularly for deserts. Tanks are durable products involving decades of effort and years of manufacture. They are expected to survive not only enemy shelling but also stay with the Army for at least half a century.
Therefore, to acquire true value experience by the Mechanised Forces, tanks of a class and specification should be deployed in sufficient strength so that almost every jawan, non-commissioned officer (NCO) and officer in the armoured corps is imparted has repeated bouts of training and a stint of at least three years in a regiment of Arjun tanks.
This is possible only if the population of Arjun tanks in the Army is over 500 and that too built up within three years. However, the Army continues to have its eyes fixed on purchasing more and more of T-90 tanks from Russia during the same period.
Stalling the exercise
Miffed at the continued reluctance of the Army and armed with the credentials certified by independent audit, the DRDO is challenging the former to conduct comparative trials of T-90 and Arjun. The Army stalled such an exercise by first wanting at least 45 tanks in the regiment and then postponing the trials to October.
The Army is also inserting tactical elements in the test directives, such as, capturing a target which will take the focus away from equitable comparison of equipment capability. However, happily for HVF and the DRDO, it appears that a serious RFP (Request For Proposal) has been received from a Latin American country. Who knows? Fortune may favour Arjun and it may be seen in service in larger numbers abroad than in the country of its origin.
(The author is a former member, Ordnance Factory Board.)
The Hindu Business Line : Will the Arjun tank keep rolling?
'The Hindu' is also reporting the same news. Thursday, Jun 04, 2009
The recent ceremony in Avadi, near Chennai, when 16 Arjun Main Battle Tanks were rolled out by its manufacturer, Heavy Vehicle Factory (HVF) — a part-supply for the 43rd regiment based in Rajasthan — brought cheers to those involved in the effort, both serving and retired alike.
Whether the cheers will last is a moot point as the Director-General Mechanised Forces (DGMF), who was present at the function, was silent about further orders for these tanks. HVF will complete the present and the only order so far by 2010 placed in the beginning of the decade. For long, it appeared that the Army firmly believed that having an indigenous tank in its stable was an idea whose time would never come. This will be evident if the course of history of even the past ten years, let alone the previous two decades, is traced.
Meeting standards
In 2004 the first pilot batch of tanks was handed over in the presence of the then Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee. The Army, however, insisted, before production could proceed, on incorporating stringent specifications for fording capabilities — the tanks being under water at 2.1 meters depth with only 30 minutes preparation time.
This too was successfully demonstrated in the presence of Mr A. K. Antony, Defence Minister, in 2007 as well, by the cooperative efforts of HVF and the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation). Not easily satisfied, the Army now felt it was necessary to carry out (ACURT) Accelerated Usage Cum Reliability Trials of a few tanks; in layman’s parlance, ‘Driving to death’ that includes running them for 8,000 km and firing 800 rounds of ammunition.
Ostensibly this was to work out the requirement of life-time spares although the same could have been done using advanced statistical methods, along with vendor inputs, extrapolating the vast experience of the Army in handling tanks of different vintages and designs since the Second World War. AURCT was also completed in August 2008 and modifications, as required by the experience gained, were successfully incorporated, and the first batch of tanks for this regiment was handed over in March 2009.
To reinforce the morale of HVF and the DRDO, a third-party audit by an independent international tank manufacturer certified that the Arjun was an excellent warhorse, particularly for deserts. Tanks are durable products involving decades of effort and years of manufacture. They are expected to survive not only enemy shelling but also stay with the Army for at least half a century.
Therefore, to acquire true value experience by the Mechanised Forces, tanks of a class and specification should be deployed in sufficient strength so that almost every jawan, non-commissioned officer (NCO) and officer in the armoured corps is imparted has repeated bouts of training and a stint of at least three years in a regiment of Arjun tanks.
This is possible only if the population of Arjun tanks in the Army is over 500 and that too built up within three years. However, the Army continues to have its eyes fixed on purchasing more and more of T-90 tanks from Russia during the same period.
Stalling the exercise
Miffed at the continued reluctance of the Army and armed with the credentials certified by independent audit, the DRDO is challenging the former to conduct comparative trials of T-90 and Arjun. The Army stalled such an exercise by first wanting at least 45 tanks in the regiment and then postponing the trials to October.
The Army is also inserting tactical elements in the test directives, such as, capturing a target which will take the focus away from equitable comparison of equipment capability. However, happily for HVF and the DRDO, it appears that a serious RFP (Request For Proposal) has been received from a Latin American country. Who knows? Fortune may favour Arjun and it may be seen in service in larger numbers abroad than in the country of its origin.
(The author is a former member, Ordnance Factory Board.)
The Hindu Business Line : Will the Arjun tank keep rolling?
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Screaming Skull
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So, guys any guesses as to which south american country we are talking about here? 
holysaturn
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we can sell downgraded ones provided we induct it in large numbers
Rajkumar
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PeacefulIndian
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So, guys any guesses as to which south american country we are talking about here?
I would bet on Argentina, if this report is true. I personally find it a bit tough to believe that Arjun will be able to function flawlessly in South American environment.
Screaming Skull
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Hi! Argentina makes its own tanks of Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) type. It is a pretty useful tank with proven track record. It has attracted several nations including Malaysia, Ira, Saudi etc. But it was never exported due to lot of political and financial hassles. In fact there are reports that in a comparative trial conducted by Ecuador, alongside the American Stingray light tank, the Austrian SK-105 Kürassier and the French AMX-13-105, the TAM emerged the winner. So, I don't think the Argentine are looking for a new platform.
However, Ecuador and Peru are on the look out for a modern MBT to replace their aging fleets of Leopard-1 and T-55 respectively. Infact both the nations had issued tenders way back in the 80s but couldn't acquire any due to financial constraints.
So, I would put my bet on Ecuador out of the two coz they already operate the Indian ALH-Dhruv helicopters. If it is indeed Ecuador, then we can expect the order to be close to 50-80 tanks.
Screaming Skull
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LiveFist has confirmed that the Latin American country Colombia has expressed interest in purchasing India's indigenous Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun. The National Army of Colombia (Ejército Nacional de Colombia) operates armoured personnel carriers and infantry combat vehicles of Brazilian and American origin, but does not have any main armoured strength. As part of its modernisation drive, the country is interested in inducting regiments of main battle tanks. The country has sent the DRDO a request for information (RFI) on MBT Arjun. This is the first ever expression of interest from abroad in the MBT Arjun.
The Colombian Army apparently wants tank regiments to bolster defences on its border with Venezuela where the Chavez government is going on a relentless arms buying spree. In 2004, in fact, Spain pulled out of a deal to supply 46 AMX-30 battle tanks to Colombia amid fears that it would spark off an arms race with Venezuela -- which is precisely what has happened anyway. Remember, Colombia is a country embroiled in low intensity armed civil war, one that has been on since the 1960s.
LiveFist: EXCLUSIVE: Colombia interested in MBT Arjun!
Screaming Skull
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^^ Hmm interesting!!! I have been proved wrong. It s not Ecuador after all. For Columbia, the order could be for about 40-50 MBTs. Let s see how it goes!
LCA will have to wait untill it gets a proper engine.Or as i want to call it an Indigenous engine.
Kaveri engine
The french are not too keen to help GTRE with it.
So every thing comes back to MCRA.
The wining company can also help in developing the kaveri engine.
I hope MIG wins it..
Klimov RD-33MK afterburning turbofans.
Kaveri engine are also supposed to power the MCA being planned by DRDO.
I hope GOI allows DRDO to sell arjun to colombia.
The only problem i remember with Arjun was it kind of failed in the heats of Pokharan the first time.This was the same time when there were reports of some one sabotaging the engine of Arjun.
The South American countries will get a bang for their bucks as arjun is the cheapest tank in its class only Rs.16.5 crore per tank.
Kaveri engine
The french are not too keen to help GTRE with it.
So every thing comes back to MCRA.
The wining company can also help in developing the kaveri engine.
I hope MIG wins it..
Klimov RD-33MK afterburning turbofans.
Kaveri engine are also supposed to power the MCA being planned by DRDO.
I hope GOI allows DRDO to sell arjun to colombia.
The only problem i remember with Arjun was it kind of failed in the heats of Pokharan the first time.This was the same time when there were reports of some one sabotaging the engine of Arjun.
The South American countries will get a bang for their bucks as arjun is the cheapest tank in its class only Rs.16.5 crore per tank.
Screaming Skull
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New Delhi, June 29, 2009
Seeking to build up its armoured warfare capabilities to crush a potential threat from Venezuela, its Latin American neighbour Colombia has shown interest in buying Indias indigenous Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun.
The first ever expression of interest from abroad in the MBT Arjun could translate into an export order worth Rs 1,700 crore, with Colombia wanting to raise at least two regiments of main battle tanks.
Bogota has expressed interest in the MBT Arjun. The Colombian army has an immediate requirement for 10 tanks to be followed up with the induction of another 100 over five years, said a senior official, on the condition of anonymity.
The competitors for the Colombian order include France (MBT Leclerc), US (MIAI Abram), Israel (Sabra), Korea (KI AI) and China.
Indias reluctance to export military equipment could tip the scales in the favour of international suppliers. The ministry of external affairs had recently turned down a Bolivian request for a line of credit to buy seven Dhruv advanced light helicopters worth over Rs 300 crore from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
A first: Foreign interest in Arjun tank- Hindustan Times
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