Arjun tank gets vote of support from Indian Army chief

Arjun tank gets vote of support from Indian Army chief

: NEW DELHI, Feb 19: In a reversal of the Indian Army’s stand on the indigenous main battle tank (MBT) Arjun, which has been 37 years in the making, Army chief General Deepak Kapoor has written to the Defence Ministry appreciating the tank’s performance. The Army chief’s letter has come months before the MBT Arjun, which India has been trying to manufacture indigenously for more than three decades, is headed for head-to-head ‘comparative trials’ with the Russian T-90 tanks that the Army currently operates.

“The Army chief for the first time has appreciated Arjun tank for performing well. In a letter written earlier this year, he said that the tank was subjected to the most strenuous of tests and it performed ‘admirably well’,” a Defence Ministry official told IANS on the condition of anonymity. The letter from the Army chief came after last year’s winter trials of the tank, which has already cost the exchequer Rs.3.5 billion ($71.7 million). The stand is a complete u-turn as the Army had made it clear that it would buy no more than the 124 Arjuns it has contracted for because it is unhappy with the tank on various counts.