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Russia offers India Sprut lightweight tanks amid stand-off with China

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Text Size:A-A+New Delhi: Russia has offered India its 18-tonne Sprut SDM1 lightweight tanks for possible procurement amid the with China in eastern Ladakh, ThePrint has learnt.Sources in the defence and security establishment said the offer for Spruts, capable of being airlifted, was made during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Russia in June.The move came as India has deployed heavy T-90 tanks, weighing about 46 tonnes, in Ladakh, besides T-72 tanks, which weigh around 45 tonnes and were deployed earlier.China, meanwhile, has deployed its new lightweight tanks, Type 15, which weigh around 33 tonnes.Lightweight tanks allow faster mobility in mountainous terrain than regular battle tanks that weigh over 40 tonnes.During Rajnath Singh’s visit, New Delhi and Moscow prepared a list of items that could be bought and sold in wake of the tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).The lightweight tank didn’t feature in India’s demands but was part of the Russian offer, said the sources.We are deeply grateful to our readers &amp; viewers for their time, trust and subscriptions.Quality journalism is expensive and needs readers to pay for it. Your support will define our work and ThePrint’s future.However, some sources said the technical discussions are ongoing between the Indian embassy in Moscow and Russian authorities. Under technical discussions, both sides talked about the technical aspects of the weapons system to understand its capabilities and limitations.But defence sources maintained that no emergency procurement is planned for these light weight tanks currently.Also read:&nbsp;The need for light weight tanks has been noted in the past too, but the Army’s interest in it comes in the wake of tensions with China.In 2009, the Army had issued a Request for Information (RFI) for 200 wheeled and 100 tracked light weight tanks for the new Mountain Divisions that was then being raised.Now, the government-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is working on lightweight tanks. Reports suggest the DRDO is in talks with private company Larsen &amp; Toubro for converting the K9 ‘Vajra’ 155 mm self-propelled howitzer into a 35-tonne light weight tank.According to the planned DRDO design, the K9’s 155/52 mm howitzer will be replaced by a modular turret and 105 mm gun made by Belgian firm John Cockerel Defence SA. The gun is capable of firing at 42-degree elevation, which would be helpful in a mountain warfare scenario.If the project fructifies, the L&amp;T’s production line of Vajra would be used to produce these tanks. The production line in Surat is set to go idle by the end of this year when the 100th Vajra is delivered under the contract.In the past, India had lightweight tanks that were used during the 1947-48 Kashmir operations and then the 1962 and 1971 wars. However, these later paved the way for heavier tanks.Also read:&nbsp;&nbsp;Subscribe to our channels on &amp;News media is in a crisis &amp; only you can fix itYou are reading this because you value good, intelligent and objective journalism. We thank you for your time and your trust.You also know that the news media is facing an unprecedented crisis. It is likely that you are also hearing of the brutal layoffs and pay-cuts hitting the industry. There are many reasons why the media’s economics is broken. But a big one is that good people are not yet paying enough for good journalism.We have a newsroom filled with talented young reporters. We also have the country’s most robust editing and fact-checking team, finest news photographers and video professionals. We are building India’s most ambitious and energetic news platform. And we aren’t even three yet.At ThePrint, we invest in quality journalists. We pay them fairly and on time even in this difficult period. As you may have noticed, we do not flinch from spending whatever it takes to make sure our reporters reach where the story is. Our stellar coronavirus coverage is a good example. You can check some of it .This comes with a sizable cost. For us to continue bringing quality journalism, we need readers like you to pay for it. Because the advertising market is broken too.If you think we deserve your support, do join us in this endeavour to strengthen fair, free, courageous, and questioning journalism, please click on the link below.Show Full ArticleWe can not have a situation where every time we have enemy on our border, we start emergency purchases of weapons which our enemy has but we do not have a counter for them! This happened time and again – after Kargil, Balakot and now after Galwan incident. This shows we are seriously lacking in effective planning. We plan big ticket purchases of the best items in the world, waste a lot of time in finalizing the procurement, only to find our budgets are not adequate, so we cut corners and leave out critical ones out and then that gap is exploited by our enemy! If Army decided not have light weight tanks before, it should manage with the existing ones and should not rush for emergency purchases. This makes no sense and it will be money going down the drain. If DRDO can improvise on K-9 Vajra and deliver the required capacity, it is fine else Army should manage itself. Similarly, Army should not go for binge import of snow tents from Europe now but procure them from within the country and manage better with existing resources.NEXT STORYSubstance of Print, Reach of DigitalContact us:Copyright © 2020 Printline Media Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Text Size:A-A+New Delhi: Russia has offered India its 18-tonne Sprut SDM1 lightweight tanks for possible procurement amid the with China in eastern Ladakh, ThePrint has learnt.Sources in the defence and security establishment said the offer for Spruts, capable of being airlifted, was made during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Russia in June.The move came as India has deployed heavy T-90 tanks, weighing about 46 tonnes, in Ladakh, besides T-72 tanks, which weigh around 45 tonnes and were deployed earlier.China, meanwhile, has deployed its new lightweight tanks, Type 15, which...

Russia offers India Sprut lightweight tanks amid stand-off with China

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