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Production historyDesignerCVRDE, DRDO
Designed March 1974–present
ManufacturerHeavy Vehicles Factory
Unit cost ₹559 million (US$8.7 million)
Produced 2004–present
No. built 366 (248 Mk-I and 118 Mk-II ordered)
VariantsTank EX
Specifications
Weight
58.5 tonnes (57.6 long tons; 64.5 short tons)
Mk.2=68 tonnes (67 long tons; 75 short tons)
Length 10.638 metres (34 ft 10.8 in)
Width 3.864 metres (12 ft 8.1 in)
Height 2.32 metres (7 ft 7 in)
Crew 4 (commander, gunner, loader and driver)
The Arjun features a 120 mm main rifled gun with indigenously developed armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot ammunition, one PKT 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, and a NSVT 12.7 mm machine gun. It is powered by a single MTU multi-fuel diesel engine rated at 1,400 hp, and can achieve a maximum speed of 67 km/h (42 mph) and a cross-country speed of 40 km/h (25 mph). It has a four-man crew: commander, gunner, loader and driver. Automatic fire detection and suppression and NBC protection systems are included. All-round anti-tank warhead protection by the newly developed Kanchan armour is claimed to be much higher than available in comparable third generation tanks.
Subsequently, delays and other problems in its development from the 1990s to the 2000s prompted the Indian Army to order T-90S tanks from Russia to meet requirements that the Arjun had been expected to fulfill.
In March 2010, the Arjun was pitted against the T-90 in comparative trials and performed well. The Army placed an order for an additional 124 Arjun Mk-I tanks on 17 May 2010 and 124 Arjun Mk-II Tanks on 9 August 2010.
The Arjun entered service with the Indian Army in 2004.The tanks were first inducted into the 43 Armoured Regiment, Indian Army Armoured Corps while the latest induction has been into the 75 Armoured Regiment on 12 March 2011.
