India is actively using Russian tank building technologies to create and improve its own fleet of armored vehicles. One of the typical examples of the transfer of Russian technologies to Indian soil is the famous T-90 Bhishma tank..
Since 2001 by 2010 years T-90 was the best-selling tank on the world market. At the same time, India became the main buyer of the Russian combat vehicle abroad., while seriously concerned about the increase in the number of tanks to confront their potential adversaries - Pakistan and China. Also, delays in the production of the Indian Arjun tank itself, which has been developed since the mid-1970s, forced the Indian military to look for an alternative. The circumstance was also taken into account, that neighboring Pakistan was also building up tank power, acquiring tanks from China and Ukraine.
AT 2001 g. a contract was signed for the supply 310 T-90S with a total cost of 1 billion, and 2006 g. India has signed a contract for 2,5 billion dollars of licensed production 1000 T-90 tanks at Indian enterprises. This is how the T-90 Bhishma tanks appeared, named after the legendary warrior from the Indian epic Mahabharata.
The Indian tank "Bhishma" combines the advantages of Russian tank building technologies with local additions and French thermal sights. It is produced at the Avadi tank factory in Chennai city. (formerly Madras) in the state of Tamilnadu. T-90M Bhishma equipped with a new automatic loader, fire control system (FCS), main tool (2A46M-5) and power plant with a capacity 1130 Horse power, as well as an additional anti-aircraft gun with remote control.
One of the modifications of the T-90, namely T-90MS, according to military experts, ideal for the harsh climate and mountainous landscape of the Himalayan regions such as Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. In its turn, on the plains of India, where the climate is very hot, T-90s of local production have proven themselves not from the best side, often overheating. Therefore, in military units, stationed in lowland India, prefer Indian tanks "Arjun".
but, with an obvious preference for domestic technologies, yet India does not refuse the further acquisition of Russian tanks. At present, the Indian ground forces have at least 1000-1100 tanks T-90S, including modifications of "Bhishma". The command of the Indian army expects to strengthen the Indo-Pakistani border with the help of Bhishma tanks, especially, that a significant part of the border passes through the mountainous regions of Kashmir, where the climate is much colder, than in the more southern states of India.
However, up to the present, the T-90 tanks are not yet the most massive in the ground forces of India. At the disposal of the tank units of the Indian army is the most T-72M1 tanks - about 2000 units. But the T-90 has every chance to replace the T-72 in the Indian army, especially considering, that India already has a large number of T-90 tanks, than Russia itself, having acquired over the years of production half of all produced tanks of this type.
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Well-known expert Caleb Larson in an article in The National Interest magazine writes, that India is also interested in the latest Russian tank T-14 "Armata". However, still unclear, whether in New Delhi they want to purchase tanks already produced in Russia, or start releasing them under license at Indian enterprises. It is not excluded, that "Armata" is of interest to the Indian military and purely as a platform for subsequent, already purely Indian developments.
The main task of India in terms of tank building is to increase the number of tanks in the near future, are in the ranks, to 4500 units. After achieving this goal, India will be the fourth power in the world in terms of the number of tanks after Russia., US and China.
Ilya Polonsky
