The spokesman for Rosoboronexport said over the passing of the final batch of T-90S tanks to the Indian customers that "Russian tank manufacture sees the Indian tank-building industry as a long-term partner".
He cited among the promising developments of Russian tank manufacture which Rosoboronexport proposes to the Indian side the updated T-92 tank, now in service by the Indian land forces.
"The modernisation programme intends the cardinal improvement of all the basic performances of the tank - fire power, protection, manoeuvrability and crew steering response", he said.
Modernisation also intends the tank's having high-precision missiles unprecedented world-over, he said. "These weapons are used to hit the enemy armour, small land-based targets, as well as low-flying low-speed means of air attack", the Rosoboronexport spokesman said.
The T-72M1 is the main combat machine of the Indian land forces. Hundreds of such tanks have been made under license by the Avadi factory. In the opinion of experts, the T-72M1 and T-90 manufacturing base is actually the same, allowing to arrange the production of the T-72M1 with the present capacities.
"This circumstance is the indubitable advantage of the Russian modernisation proposal because all the other proposals to update the Indian T-72M1 fleet call for investments to be made into retooling the Avadi manufacturing line", he explained.
What's more, "India's choice for the Russian updating version will make it possible to increase the unification of the fleet of tanks, create a single system of training crews, field service and maintenance".
"The T-90S has what to update. During realisation of the T-90S supply contract, new areas of cooperation between Russian and Indian specialists appeared in improving its ergonomics and armour protection, including the installing of an air-conditioner and the Shtora fibre-electronic neutralisation complex in the T-90S", the Rosoboronexport spokesman said.
In the opinion of experts, the Shtora boosts the tank's invulnerability to different kinds of antitank shells.
"Realisation of large and technically sophisticated programmes of Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation, including the T-90S contract, increases the military-technical and military-political components of the strategic cooperation between Moscow and New Delhi", emphasised the Rosoboronexport spokesman.
