New Indian Express, 12 October 2004
Pak claim fires Army to test DRDO's Arjun against Russian T-90
NEW DELHI: The Indian Defence establishment may not like to admit it but Pakistan President Musharraf's claim that their
indigenous Al Khalid main battle tank is superior to the DRDO's Arjun tank has prompted Army headquarters to review the
latter's capabilities. The Army top brass have directed the Armoured Corps to compare the Arjun with the Russian-made T-90,
through extensive trials beginning this month in the Mahajan ranges of Rajasthan. According to South Block sources, the five
Arjun production-series tanks, handed over by the DRDO in August, will be tested against the T-90s before any decision is
taken on inducting more indigenous tanks. It is already clear that the missile-firing T-90, not the Arjun, will be India's main
battle tank. Due to shortage of attack helicopters, the Army has to rely on tanks in case hostilities break out. The Army has
also instructed the DRDO to speed up production of Arjun tanks rather than handing them over in piece-meal basis. But before
placing its next order, it will wait for the result of the Arjun versus T-90 tests this winter.
Sir. The said article is very old and invalid as of today. The IA has modified aviation units for ATGM role with HAL Dhruv and Chetak/Cheetah suitably modified to carry ATGMs and plenty of these are operational ..... pure attack helicopter in terms of Mi-35 type is limited as of now with India likely to induct the HAL-LCH which is undergoing trials as of now ......