DRDO DATRAN 1500 Engine Nears India's Main Battle Tanks

[RonitBisht]

• The indigenously developed DRDO DATRAN 1500 engine is nearing its integration into India's main battle tanks.
• The engine, which is 100hp more than the current MTU MB 838 Ka-501 engines, requires modifications before seamless integration.
• The process, estimated to take two years, involves extensive testing and validation.
• The first test of the engine took place in 2023, with further testing planned.
• The Army plans to equip T-90 tanks with DATRAN engines from 2027-28.
• The success of the project hinges on collaboration between DRDO, industrial partners, and the Indian Army.

 

[Mithu Roy]

Take help of avl Austria and get it up running without trying to reinvent wheels and wasting tax payers money.avl has everything to complete the project in a year

 

[bonito]

I smell already a failure

 

[NSR]

India needs to build up Arjun and T-90s aggressively and it can't wait another 4 years for them to develop and test them at all as two enemies are not going to wait for India to arm.

Go with Cummins engine on ad hoc basis at lease to keep building Arjun and T-90S tanks.

It is foolish to wait in the present geological circumstances.

 

[venkat]

2 years to install an engine. Are we in stone age?

 

[War is good for business]

Why is DRDO involved even in the development of an internal combustion engine? This is well within the capability of our automobile manufacturers.

 

[Ramsses CDXX]

Yeh to ek hafte pehle aaya tha. Yeh repeat to comment bhi repeat hoga

🤧+😮‍💨+😪+😴+💀 As of now DATRAN is habitual of 1.001 atm, 0.0 mm & 25°C.

✤Summer will come - Put DATRAN in the open under the 🌞 in Pokhran for a sauna-bath at 55°C. If doesn't melt like hot 🍫, put it inside Arjun MBT then.
✤Monsoon will come - Put DATRAN in the open under the ⛈️ in Sikkim/ Meghalaya for a mud-bath at 1000 mm. If doesn't flow like mud, put it inside Arjun MBT then.
✤Winter will come - Put DATRAN in the open under the 🌨️❄️ in Ladakh & Arunachal in a cold therapy at -20°C . If doesn't freeze like ice-cream 🍧, put it inside Arjun then.

 

[Frank]

TATA, MAHINDRA.... ALL USELESS

 

[Aravind Raveendran]

They already knew that unless the dimensions are similar modifications would be necessary which would lead to more tests and time.
So it should be commonsense that we need to make the engine within the stipulated parameters ,instead of wasting more time and money. No wonder India is still lagging behind in many areas. Very poor planning and execution with almost zero R&D . God help us.

 

[Ajath]

They already knew that unless the dimensions are similar modifications would be necessary which would lead to more tests and time.

T90 and Arjun MBT have different specifications. So modification is a must for installing / integration of engines

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

TATA, MAHINDRA.... ALL USELESS

TATA, Mahindra, Ashok Leyland and everyone else in the Indian market depend on imports/ foreign licenses for their larger engines. Very little has been spent on engine development by Indian induatry, be it public or private.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

Why is DRDO involved even in the development of an internal combustion engine? This is well within the capability of our automobile manufacturers.

I don't know if anyone asked them but I doubt they would be interested. They won't spend their own money on a long and expensive research and development program. The government has to either fund the R&D or give them guarantees of future production contracts.

 

[Pramkumar]

Hope IA will ask for test in moon first then on Mar. For that ISRO need to develop a Carrier racket

 

[Sanjay Shah]

Even arjun tank were laghed up on.found to be too heavy. Now we are trying lliggter tank for ladakh.once you start buying small lot,in second round and third round you can get world class product.

Same way all experts making hue and cry to buy foreign enfine. Germany denial came as blessings.

Make your own design for all products.
Thats final word for all major products.

But then what dalals would do???

 

[Sanjay Shah]

It make 100 hp more than current engine. What an achievement. No one want to talk

 

[War is good for business]

The government has to either fund the R&D or give them guarantees of future production contracts.

An implicit guarantee did exist that the engine would be used and they themselves (Tata) would derive huge benefits in terms of trucks where they use Cummins engine at the moment.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

An implicit guarantee did exist that the engine would be used and they themselves (Tata) would derive huge benefits in terms of trucks where they use Cummins engine at the moment.

TATA was contacted about a 1500 hp output engine by the Govt. Of India?

 

[War is good for business]

TATA was contacted about a 1500 hp output engine by the Govt. Of India?

No. What I mean to say is that if asked for involvement, the private sector has much to gain from engaging in R&D for a tank engine. There would have been guaranteed orders be it Mahindra or Tata or even Ashok Leyland. The knowledge will not be wasted and government is practically footing the cost of R&D and the trickle down benefits that they receive all round is incentive enough.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

The knowledge will not be wasted and government is practically footing the cost of R&D and the trickle down benefits that they receive all round is incentive enough.

Probably a lot cheaper to license produce a foreign design than making one from scratch. Which is why nobody has bothered till now. Its upto the government to incentivise R&D in critical sectors. Defence programs are managed very poorly in India.

 

[The Dark Knight]

Today we have so many facilities and technologies to make is much faster. All is possible in single year.i mean it's not a aircraft engine. Enemies won't wait for that long .

 

[Prashu Sam]

Just add one more program to "delay" list. So many programs are terribly running behind schedule and cost-over runs and somehow we are used to it.

 

[suraj tiwari]

2 years to install an engine. Are we in stone age?

It involves modifying, installing and extensive testing.