DELIVERING A KNOCKOUT BLOW, WITH AN IRON FIST

At a time when the Indian strategic establishment is gearing up the with the deployment of IBGs for cross-border action under the 'Cold-Start' doctrine, the nation's armed forces need a much more robust and larger fleet of latest generation tanks and armoured vehicles. A special report

The two world wars in the last century witnessed widespread casualties among soldiers from both blocks and forced many European nations to invest in better research and development initiatives for developing better armour and boosted-firepower in order to counter threats at the tactical-level battlefield. With the evolution of high-explosive warheads, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), landmines and grenades capable of taking out infantrymen and vehicles, shielding the soldiers and commanding officers from enemy firepower became an abject necessity.

Tanks and armoured vehicles were developed to cater to the needs of professional armies all across the globe to take out enemy positions and mobile targets through LRDLOS (Long Range Direct Line of Sight) firing and to protect the soldiers inside the hardened armoured compartment from hostile fire. While the evolution of India's armoured fleet dates back to the 1950s, the country faced two massive ground wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971 which witnessed widespread use of tanks, tank destroyer vehicles and armoured personnel carriers (APCs). As of 2022, with more than 4500 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) divided into 67 armoured regiments, the Indian Army has one of the largest tank fleets in the world. But tracked-armour modernisation is still a work in progress.

Main battle tanks (MBTs) in operation