The Indian Army is planning to induct a third-generation missiles system for its Russian make T-90 tank. The upgrade of the existing T-90 tank missile system was in the pipeline and in different stages of trial evaluation, a senior officer of the Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S), told Times of India. “The upgrade will give us an edge over enemies and better operational preparedness”.
As of now, the T-90 tanks are equipped with laser-guided INVAR missile system which has a target hitting range of 5,500 meters, and the Army has decided to replace them with a third generation gun-launched missile. “The upgraded system will achieve more depth of penetration as well as hit target at a range of 8,000 meters, which would be a big advantage for us,” another officer of the armored corps said.
Indian army sources said the new missile system should be able to engage mobile as well as static targets effectively. “Since the tanks are now also deployed in high altitude regions, the mobility and strike capability is of great importance. Hence, there is another plan to install a modular engine for the T-90 tanks,” sources added.
However, will India also evaluate Israeli missiles for its tanks? The Spike anti-tank guided missiles of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems can be a good option. In November 2017, the Indian Defense Ministry decided on the cancellation of the anti-tank missile purchase from Rafael, a deal which would have been worth $500 million, as reported by media in India.
Official sources said the proposal to acquire the missile system from Rafael faced hurdles when it apparently expressed reservations in ensuring full transfer of technology as per the provisions of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, according to defenseworld.net.
However, recent reports from India suggested that India was considering the partial purchase of Spike missiles from Israel through the government-to-government (G-to-G) route.