India rolls out T-90 Mk-III tanks

The Indian Army has inducted 10 T-90 Mk-III MBTs. The T-90 Mk-III is India's equivalent of the Russian T-90MS MBT (pictured above). (Rosoboronexport)

India's state-owned Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) has delivered the first batch of 10 T-90 Mk-III main battle tanks (MBTs) to the Indian Army, a senior AVNL official told Janes on 12 June.

“The tanks are newly produced by AVNL's Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) under [a] licensing agreement with Russia,” the official said. The Indian Army signed a contract with HVF in November 2019 to procure 464 new T-90MS tanks, and the delivery is part of this contract, the official added.

According to the official, the T-90 Mk-III is equipped with a “new” automatic target tracking system, a digital ballistic computer, and sighting systems. It is also fitted with a midwave infrared (MWIR)-based commander sight jointly developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

According to the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD), this sight employs a thermal imager capable of detecting targets at 8 km during day and night and a laser rangefinder (LRF) to find ranges up to 5 km, thereby enhancing its capability to engage targets at longer ranges.

“With the corrections from ballistic software and LRF, the commander of T-90 can detect, engage, and neutralise the targets with accuracy,” the MoD added.

The remaining fleet of 454 T-90 Mk-IIIs will be delivered to the Indian Army in phases over the next five years, the AVNL official said. The official added that HVF is also upgrading the Indian Army's in-service T-90S tanks to T-90MS standards.

Janes