New Delhi (Sputnik) — India plans to make the Russian origin tanks T-90 and T-72 more lethal by upgrading their missile systems. The Indian government has approved the purchase of third generation anti-tank missile systems which will make the T-90 & T-72 capable of hitting targets up to 8 kilometers during the day as well as night. Currently, the T-90 fleet of the Indian Army is armed with the INVAR missile system.
“The missile should comprise of two parts; msl along with booster & sustainer charge and the second part should only be a pusher/propelling device which can be loaded in the carousel auto loader of Tank T-90 S/T-72,” reads a document of the Indian Army.
Meanwhile, the defense ministry has also approved $375 million fund for the purchase of armored fighting vehicle protection and counter measure systems for more than 3000 T-90 tanks. The system will warn & destroy impending attacks from anti-tank guided missiles, rocket propelled grenade/rocket launcher and projectiles fired up to velocity of 1000 m/sec.
“The system should be capable of detecting attack from more than one direction in case of near simultaneous hostile threat (minimum of 0.4 second gap) and neutralize up to two threats. The system should have multi launcher capability/ auto loading to address threats from different directions simultaneously,” the Army document revealed.
Indian defense ministry has also approved purchase of 2011 modular engine for T-90 S/SK tanks. It will have a variable power output of 1200-1500 HP to cater for high battle field agility mandated with system/ platform level upgrades planned for the T-90S/SK, including its future variants.
