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| India-Pakistan |
| India's Arjun battle tank acquires growing fan club but Russian T-90 backers resist |
| 2008-06-16 |
| India's own Arjun tank is finally proving its worth. Despite continuing criticism from an army establishment that judges the Arjun far more strictly than foreign purchases like the T-90, the Arjun is successfully completing a gruelling 5,000-kilometre trial in the Rajasthan desert. During six months of trials, the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO), along with tank crews from the army's 43 Armoured Regiment, have proved not just the Arjun's endurance, but also the ability of its computer-controlled gun to consistently blow away suitcase-sized targets placed more than a kilometre away. The army's Directorate General of Mechanised Forces (DGMF), which must eventually okay the tank, is not impressed but key decision-makers are rallying behind the Arjun. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #18 Rat Patrol waz bush league compared to Combat BTW! |
| Posted by: RD 2008-06-16 20:54 |
| #17 Yeah, Frank, but can they take UAVs with Hellfires? You gotabe to be joking Rambler... These guys could kick the Krap outta Krauts and any body else with ease!! Vic Morrow was so good that any weapon he used in combat shot 250 rounds without reloading! yep, Grease Gun, Thompson's auto, M1 Grarand, M1 carbine, .45 sidearm whatever fer Christ sake! Vic Morrow as Sgt. "Chip" Saunders Rick Jason as Lt. Gil Hanley Jack Hogan as William G. Kirby Pierre Jalbert as Caje Dick Peabody as Littlejohn Other Regulars: Shecky Greene as Braddock ... Season 1 Steven Rogers as Doc ... Season 1 Conlan Carter as Doc ... Seasons 2 through 5 Tom Lowell as Billy Nelson ... Seasons 1 and 2 William Bryant as McCall ... Season UAVs with Hellfires? HA what are those Rambler!?! I'm surprised at youse! Rambler you're talking about Combat PROFESSIONALS damn it!! >: |
| Posted by: RD 2008-06-16 20:52 |
| #16 ...interplanetary star cruisers... OK, I made that last one up |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-06-16 20:17 |
| #15 Yeah, Frank, but can they take UAVs with Hellfires? |
| Posted by: Rambler in California 2008-06-16 19:48 |
| #14 anyone who ever watched Rat Patrol knows jeeps with machine guns rule. They can beat panzers, infantry, bombers, destroyers.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-06-16 19:39 |
| #13 A technical is far superior in open ground. Desert and rocky mountains. The Sahara and above where mobility is king. In a city, town, hamlet, or mud and jungle I wouldn't want to be caught dead in one. That is why you don't hear about technicals in those areas. Of course on the expendable front they are better than a light tank or APC so perhaps it doesn't matter. Send two or three and if you lose some to a swarm its not a big loss. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-06-16 19:15 |
| #12 Personally I'd make a heavy carrier of disposable concrete slabs. That fired AT missiles. Mix. Set. Armour up! |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2008-06-16 18:25 |
| #11 A technical would do just as well, and cost a lot less. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-06-16 18:13 |
| #10 Most areas of subsahara africa would see tanks used against rioters. Rioters without anti-tank weapons in most cases. And if you do face one you have the advantage that you have a limited crew and cost compared to a main battle tank like the ones the soviets sell. The arms race between anti-tank missiles and tanks has mostly been won in the missiles favor. I agree with that, but you can't concede the entire field because they *might* have missiles. You instead buy more disposable versions of your equipment. And of course hope you don't end up in a tank v tank war. If not a tank than an APC which would mostly have the same negatives to anti-tank missiles. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-06-16 16:56 |
| #9 And all the other PGM however delivered. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-06-16 15:34 |
| #8 Because of the increased lethality of anti-tank missiles? |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-06-16 15:29 |
| #7 Tanks are assuming the usefulness of battleships. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-06-16 15:19 |
| #6 Still I think India should develop a light tank for export to Africa and the middle east. A light tank will be mincemeat when it faces Pakistani and Chinese tanks and ATGMs. India has been very reluctant to export arms. Nehru was quite the peacenik and hated armaments. At independence India had ordinance factories that manufactured all manner of defence gear. It exported almost nothing, and what little was sold went to a select few nations. What the Indian army needs is more artillery and IFVs. |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-06-16 15:11 |
| #5 I think it would be good idea to have no tanks whatsoever in SubSaharan Africa. Do you have any idea what Hellfires, TOWs and Javelins cost? Even AT4s will bust your weekly beer allowance. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2008-06-16 15:00 |
| #4 I think Strategy Page had an article on the Arjun a few months back - had been under development with minimal successes for years. |
| Posted by: Vinegar Whomort2652 2008-06-16 14:37 |
| #3 The Arjun may or may not be a fine tank. It looks like a main battle tank and is probably what India needs. Still I think India should develop a light tank for export to Africa and the middle east. I imagine there is a huge market in areas where the tanks are more likely to be used against infantry or crowds rather than other tanks. Make money, build the arms industry and reputation and you can build your own tanks with the profits. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-06-16 14:26 |
| #2 |
| Posted by: RD 2008-06-16 12:54 |
| #1 Obviously, this threatens a lot of generals' payoffs from the Russians. |
| Posted by: gromky 2008-06-16 05:14 |