Protecting tanks from enemy fire

“The smoke screen will be generated in around four seconds and remain there for around 20 seconds allowing tanks to escape. This is the latest technology in this field and the last trials with the Army happened recently in August,” said HEMRL director Subananda Rao.

These grenades increase tank survivability on the field,scientists said. The principal is simple enough – all tanks use laser range finders to judge the distance of the enemy tank; the “81 mm- smoke grenade” developed by HEMRL produces a smoke screen that is impenetrable for lasers; when the enemy is unable to judge the distance or find the coordinates of its target tank,it will be unable to fire anti tank missiles. Scientists’ say the smoke grenades currently with India need 10 seconds to reach the target and generate smoke over 35 seconds. The latest ones developed by HEMRL begin generating smoke in four seconds and provide a smoke screen for around 20 seconds.

It’s a race. Tanks use these grenades to avoid detection and escape incase they are overwhelmed by the other side. Normally a bunch of grenades are fired at the same time,” said a senior scientist.

HEMRL scientists say that these grenades are indigenously developed. “It is very difficult to import such sensitive technology. Nobody will sell and even if they do,they are fairly expensive. Even as the Russians are using 3D17 models of smoke grenades,we have been using 3D6 models of smoke grenades that came along with the tanks that came at Rs 3,000 a piece,” said a senior HEMRL scientist. Presently,HEMRL is fine tuning the technology: ensuring uniformity in smoke density,in all climatic conditions and a flatter trajectory for firing.