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Upcoming modifications on the Arjun Mark II

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That is BS proven by Col Shukla. The weight has increased more, not decreased. DRDO put a more powerful engine.

Thats why i asked to get some knowledgeable reply but one burger directed me to google. :confused:
 
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Then Arjun MkII will continue to bear the severe weakspots of MkI which can and will be exploited by enemy in case of hostility.
1.Weak side armor.
The side armour is not weak. It has active protection system and ERA plates. Also most of the tanks hit from frontal section of the turret, as it is facing the enemy. Thats why they designed like this.

2.Vulnerable gunner's main sight
It got an armour cover, I guess.

3.Vulnerable ammo box in the hull.
It is called 'containerised weapon bin'. It is designed such a way that of hit by an ammo the onboard ammos will burst outside the turret without injuring the crews.

Arjun MkII is 3 years away from induction,hope the DRDO guys take a watch and solve the flaws.
Besides,it will be just great if the ARDE manages to develop a L55 smoothbore gun with atleast the same 8600 Bar maximum chamber pressure.

The design is final dude. It was made after extensive inputs from the army.
 
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Thats why i asked to get some knowledgeable reply but one burger directed me to google. :confused:

You are trolling in all threads that also are very low quality troll. It is clearly mentioned in early thread what is the weight of Arjun. Instead of trolling in that thread, you could have read the starting article.
 
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No mention of Active Protection System and 1500 np new engine ?

Btw is the 1st pic of mk2?? Please say no.
The first phase of modification were made but all of them are internal and thats why the looks are the same. In short right now its an upgraded MK1.
 
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hey i checked wiki

it says total 496 ( Mk 1 + Mk 2 ) Arjuns have been ordered.
 
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The side armour is not weak. It has active protection system and ERA plates. Also most of the tanks hit from frontal section of the turret, as it is facing the enemy. Thats why they designed like this.


It got an armour cover, I guess.


It is called 'containerised weapon bin'. It is designed such a way that of hit by an ammo the onboard ammos will burst outside the turret without injuring the crews.



The design is final dude. It was made after extensive inputs from the army.

Nope!!2/3rd portion of turret side is indeed very weakly armored with just 100mm or so RHA plate which can be pierced by a simple RPG 7.
And just look at the Leopard 2A6 or K2 Black Panther-they all have got 250-300mm thick composite armor
all along the turret side excluding the bustle which is protected by RHA but the crew compartment is covered.But strangely DRDO guys put 350mm composite armor on just 1/3rd portion of the side leaving the crew compartment vulnerable to a flanking attack.That's why I think the composite layer should be elongated.And the idea that tank will not face fire from side is a severely flawed one at the best.Evidence was the Panzer MkV Panthers which got destroyed by inferior Shermans to flanking attacks due to their weak side armor.
The gunner's main sight has no armor cover.Why would anyone cover the sight??Most of the tanks except Arjun,Leo 2A4 and Leclerc has roof mounted sight which is a much secured position.But the above mentioned 3 have the sight on the front turret where it's most vulnerable to enemy fire.

The 'containerised ammo bin' is mounted on turret bustle which holds 24 rounds,but 16 rounds are kept in a hull mounted ammo stowage and I told this storage to be eliminated in favour of a larger bustle mounted ammo box to store all the ammo in there just like the M1 Abrams.
REGARDS. . . . . . . . .
 
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Another crucial improvement in the Mark II is the tank commander’s thermal imaging (TI) night sight, which replaces the day-only sight of the earlier Arjun. Now the Arjun can operate at night in “hunter-killer” mode --- the commander as hunter; and the gunner as killer. The commander scans the battlefield through his new TI sight; targets that he spots are electronically allocated to the gunner to destroy, while he returns to hunting for more targets.
 
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Large orders can make Arjun tank cheaper | idrw.org

The army could clear the indigenous Arjun Mark II main battle tank (MBT) for frontline service after trials next year, but a question mark hangs over the Arjun’s prohibitive cost. Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi (HVF) has already built 124 Arjun Mark I tanks for the army at Rs 18 crore per tank. But on 29th August, Defence Minister AK Antony sprung a bombshell when he announced in Parliament that, “The likely estimated (sic) cost of each MBT Arjun Mark-II… will be approximately Rs 37 crore.”

This is twice the price of the Russian T-90 and not much cheaper than USA’s M1 Abrams, the world’s most advanced MBT. On 1st July 11, the US Congress was notified that Egypt would buy 125 Abrams tanks for $1.3 billion — i.e. $10.4 million, or Rs 54 crore, per tank.

During a visit to HVF and to the Central Vehicles R&D Establishment (CVRDE), which has developed the Arjun, Business Standard was explained that the cost of the Arjun is easily reduced. If the army places a larger order the price will drop by 30 per cent.



P Sivakumar, Director of CVRDE, explains that 50 per cent of the cost of the Arjun Mark I went on three imported components —the gunner’s main sight (GMS) from OIP Systems, Belgium; the gun control equipment (GCE) from Bosch, Germany; and the power pack (engine and transmission) from Renk, Germany — which together cost Rs 12 crore. Ordering just 124 pieces left little leeway to beat down that price.

“If you are talking just 124 tanks, there is a problem. Bring an order for 500 tanks. We will go for ToT (transfer of technology) for the foreign parts… The cost of labour in Germany is the highest in the world. We will build 70 per cent cheaper in India. If we buy the power pack of the Arjun for Rs 7.5 crore on Friday… I will produce it in India for just Rs 4-5 crore,” says Sivakumar.

For an army with more than 3,500 tanks, including 2,400 obsolescent T-72s that are crying out for replacement, ordering just 124 Arjun Mark IIs seems unduly cautious. But the army has little incentive to reduce cost. Though the generals are now willing to order more Arjuns, they are placing their orders piecemeal.

Since most of the Arjun’s 10,000 components are outsourced, the size of the order is a crucial determinant of what price they are supplied at. Says RK Jain, Additional DG of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) who oversees HVF: “If the army’s indent is for just 124 tanks, the vendors charge higher prices. Besides, the amortisation cost of jigs, tools and equipment is reduced over a larger order. HVF and CVRDE have been jointly requesting the army to confirm an order of at least 250 Arjun Mark IIs so that we can negotiate from a stronger position,” says Jain.

Another reason for the Arjun Mark II’s rising cost becomes obvious at the Arjun production line at HVF, where the army is collecting the last of 124 Arjuns that were cleared for production in 2008. Just as the Rs 50 crore Arjun line has hit its stride, it must shut down for at least two years since another order can come only after the Arjun Mark II trials next year.

I walk through the giant workshop, now almost empty, with the HVF manager who oversees Arjun production, HR Dixit. “Even if the army clears the Arjun Mark II next summer, and indents for 124 more tanks by October 2012 (an optimistic time-frame), we require at least 12 months for obtaining the items that go into the Arjun. So end-2013 is the earliest that the Arjun assembly line can restart,” says Dixit.

The skilled workers on the Arjun line, who have developed invaluable expertise while building 124 Arjun tanks, will be distributed to other parts of HVF, Dixit tells me.

“We can send our workers to HVF’s other lines. But what can we do about the dislocation of our sub-contractors, many of them small enterprises around Chennai, who supply thousands of Arjun components like fuel pipes and bearings. They will seek other work because they know they will get no orders until an indent is placed for the Arjun Mk II. And, when we need them again, they might not be available,” says Ashutosh Kumar, works manager.
 
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