Arjun MkII Gets Development Greenlite, Will Be Equipped With Homegrown Engine

India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has officially greenlit development of the Arjun MkII, the advanced next-generation model of the country's indigenously developed main battle tank (MBT).

This comes on the heels of the Indian Army's successful order of the Arjun Mk1A variant, marking a continued commitment to domestically produced armored vehicles.

The Arjun Mk1A: A Transitional Step​

Defence experts familiar with the program explain that the Arjun Mk1A played a crucial role as an interim solution, bridging the older Mk1 and the significantly upgraded MkII. The extensive improvements envisioned for the MkII required this intermediate step to maintain a capable tank force.

The Arjun MkII: Leaner and More Powerful​

The Arjun MkII promises major enhancements over its predecessors. A redesigned turret will shave off 3-4 tons of weight, boosting agility and maneuvering.

Overall, the MkII aims for a target weight of 63 tons, a welcome reduction from the Mk1A's 67 tons, increasing the tank's operational flexibility in varied terrain.

At the heart of the Arjun MkII lies the indigenous DATRAN V12 turbocharged diesel engine. While some initial MkIA tanks might use the 1400 hp MTU 838 Ka 501 engine, DRDO prioritizes the DATRAN V12 for its long-term vision.

This powerful, homegrown engine is under development and targeted for production readiness by 2026.

India's Path to Self-Reliance in Defence​

Development of the Arjun MkII, alongside the longer-term Futuristic Main Battle Tank (FMBT) project (not expected before 2030), highlights India's emphasis on indigenous defence production.

The MkII is projected to complete development by 2026-27, offering the Indian Army an enhanced, lighter MBT while cutting dependence on foreign imports.

 

[Antony Moyalan]

The Caterpillar engine used in the Challenger 2 tank could be an indigenous substitute.

 

[sanket]

will all this translate into Big orders For Arjun MK2

 

[NSR]

In the times of severe supply chain issues and disruptions, it is an important step forward for India to go ahead with its own engines and turrets in this increasingly important tank for Indian defenses.

Remember that Germany could not supply engine for our light tank.

Remember that no one can win a war with all imported armaments.
A great move forward indeed.

 

[kumar]

will all this translate into Big orders For Arjun MK2

As given above, it won't. It will most probably get one more limited batch production. Fmbt or frcv is the one where bulk orders will be placed.

 

[kumar]

IA should learn from IN on how to plan and execute iterative development. No world class systems are built in first attempt. This obsession for everything imported must stop. They have literally transferred all tech developed for arjun into tincans. Even now, they don't learn thier lessons. IA has been late in releasing rfi for frcv. Only speaks volume of thier mindset.

 

[Puneet]

Hope the Datran engine is reliable and the turret strength is not compromised. The Arjun tank is a great prospect for exports if inducted and deployed by the Indian Army in suitable numbers.

 

[Aravind Raveendran]

A wise decision indeed ,but we need to change the model into a 3 crew tank with an autoloader which could decrease the weight significantly. Otherwise this will have the same fate as of Arjun.
I believe have made some metallurgical advancements since the making of Arjun so lightweight alloys which are stronger could be bonus.

 

[Borodine]

Sounds good but they should really replace the 120mm rifled gun with a 125mm smoothbore. Rifled guns have no place in modern tank warfare.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Hope the Datran engine is reliable and the turret strength is not compromised. The Arjun tank is a great prospect for exports if inducted and deployed by the Indian Army in suitable numbers.

Yeah, the rich middle eastern countries have similar desert conditions to India. They could be great export customers. Right now they operate the Abrams tanks in large numbers.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Also, please put some kind of special drone and LM protection on the tank. This could offensive system to shoot down the droneor jams the drone or a defensive system which is just better armor on the top of the tank, and an unexposed fuel tank, so tank does not catch fire after drone hit.

 

[Sandeep]

The Arjun MK1A has outperformed many other tanks and it's only problem is that it weighs a lot which isn't mainly a drawback as in a war you just want the tank to perform and keep you alive. Other than that we have indigenously designed, developed and manufactured the latest technology and capabilities that any current tank from the west has which is very important as this is the first time India has ever developed a tank.

The main crucial technology like having a powerful 100% indigenous engine has shown great progress and is a major part and cost of any tank. The other key technology developed like having a integrated fire and control system, laser range finder, thermal vision, night vision, magnification sights, automatic target tracking, main gun, remote machine gun, ATGM fire capability, indigenous high strength armour, ERA, NERA, NBC protection, fire detection and suppression system, anti infrared paint, infrared jammer, auxiliary power unit, automatic health system and more. This has all been developed indigenously without any foreign help which is a major achievement but there is still more that can be done.

We need to install a drone control system to operate different types of drones for surveillance or a kamikaze drone which is a crucial necessity in modern warfare. Another crucial requirement is to develop a EW and ESM system to either jam incoming attacks from ATGM or any kind of drones so they can't target our tank effectively and it will miss the tank. At the same time we should also look and improve any equipment or technology that we have developed already to make sure it's kept up to date.

 

[The_rED_dEVIL]

In the times of severe supply chain issues and disruptions, it is an important step forward for India to go ahead with its own engines and turrets in this increasingly important tank for Indian defenses.

Remember that Germany could not supply engine for our light tank.

Remember that no one can win a war with all imported armaments.
A great move forward indeed.

But there is no information about Active Protection system which is an important component for next generation MBT.

 

[Avada kedavra]

Another disaster in the making another 20 years for this so called upgrade to materialize. And that too also will only get a token purchase from the Indian army. 100 to 200 tanks only.

 

[op gupta]

The Caterpillar engine used in the Challenger 2 tank could be an indigenous substitute.

No, completely wrong only indigenous engine.

 

[ASHOK CARROL]

Redesign the turret and totally enclose the crew in an armoured capsule like T-14 Armata , use a reliable auto loader , cater for water , toilet and small fridge , oven and teamaker .Include batteries for silent running and combined Diesel for sprint . Increase protective armour from front to 1400mm, side 900-1000, top 800-1000and bottom slope to prevent IEDS exploding .With a range of over 500 km and a common APAM round Atleast 45 to 50 A formidable 55-58 tons tank can be built . Some technologies like 360 see through armour , main gun with APSADS Over 800 to 1000 mm and other technologies can be imported from ISRAEL , America , Russia , france till better versions are locally developed .

 

[INDIAN]

Why not try to build a new platform itself, Arjun design was very old. DRDO has learnt many lessons in Arjun development but weight remain the issue which Indian army has still reservation.
DRDO can still work on Arjun mk2 ,but only as a upgrade project.
But main focus should build a new clean slate indigenous platform with less weight rather than importing again.

 

[Pink Panther]

will all this translate into Big orders For Arjun MK2

We need Arjun MK2 or some local MBT, if we look at the rate which number of tanks are lost in modern-day warfare, only when we have a local industry we could able to replace the lost tanks fast, importing wouldn’t work, this is same for all the defense equipments, IA should understand this support the local efforts and stop importing tanks.

 

[NSR]

But there is no information about Active Protection system which is an important component for next generation MBT.

Not in this article but Indian Arjuns and T-90S comes with heavy active and reactive armor.
May be not the older ones.

 

[Rajesh]

Can use 125mm gun with autoloader and 3 man crew to reduce the weight beyond the 60 ton mark or the same atags situation regarding with weight will come.

 

[Antony Moyalan]

No, completely wrong only indigenous engine.

arey bhai, It will take 10 years to become ready for mass production. Caterpillar engine 100% India made will be good.