Govt looking into ‘sabotage possibility’ of Arjun tank

He said though the German engines in the tanks had been used for over 15 years, “it should be examined how they broke down during the winter trials. How can this happen all of a sudden?” he wondered as he responded to questions whether the tanks had failed in winter trials conducted by the army.

Eight years after the force placed an order for 124 tanks with the Ordinance Factory Board, the Army, in an scathing indictment of the tank’s performance, has told the parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence that the tanks had ‘faired very badly’.

Army officers have informed the Committee that the tanks were miles away from meeting the Army’s requirement and several improvements needed to be carried out before they could be declared battle worthy.

Soon after the Minister’s comments, a high-level Defence Ministry team, comprising the Army Chief and Secretary, Defence Production Pradeep Kumar left for Avadi tank factory near Chennai to carry out on-the-spot inspection of the tank.

He said the 29th report of the Parliamentary Committee tabled on April 15 quoted an Army official as saying, “we have carried out the winter trials. The tanks have performed very poorly and there had been four engine failures. The tanks have just managed to do about 1000 km each.”

Later the Army Chief apprised the Defence Minister of the problems of the tank.

The Arjun tank project was started by DRDO in 1976 at an original cost of Rs 15 crore and this has shot up to Rs 306 crore and the Army has only received seven of these tanks which are being put through trials.

Meanwhile, the Army is going ahead with its plan to purchase 347 Russian T-90 tanks.