Zorawar: Light tank for Indian army

The Army has finalised the general staff quality requirements (GSQR) and will approach the defence ministry in September for the Acceptance of Necessity (AON) for a tank with a maximum weight of 25 tonnes with a margin of 10 per cent capable of floatation with the same firepower as its regular tanks, but also armed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), integration of tactical surveillance drones to provide a high degree of situational awareness and loitering munition, along with an active protection system.
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What Type of Light Tank Does India Need?

There is no denying the need of Light Tank but is there prudence in going for a 25 tonne with similar firepower as T-90 and capable of floatation? It would compromise on protection and other basic fighting features, no matter how much you may load it with Artificial Intelligence (AI)...
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The Army gave the requirement and it was then executed by the DRDO. The suggestion towards the end is the following -

The Light Tank is needed with a reckoned fire power, adequate armour protection and good power to weight ratio to ensure agility and survivability, the two non-negotiable characteristics of any Armour Fighting Vehicle (AFV) and loaded with features of AI, Active Armour protection System, Loitering Ammunitions and integrated drones. Hence, what Indian Army should be looking at is not a 25 tonne floating tank which would be designers nightmare with these requirements, as no other nation has come up with anything like this so far. Given the expertise of Indian Defence Industry, making one even with the assistance of DRDO would be a huge challenge. What it should strive for is to have a 30 tonne light tank with 105mm Gun, 1000 HP engine and STANAG IV/V level protection with other features as mentioned above.

The question that needs to be answered is can a good APS and additional add on armour provide some parity in comparison to Type-15 for this prototype.
 
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babablacksheep said:
First, source?
Second even if true so what?


No that's your assumption.
Also if we go by your assumptions as right as type 15 having that armour to take on early t72 rounds and ifv getting first shot chance on zorawar.

Now let's also assume ifv also gets first shot chances against type 15 which can take early t72 shots.

Now add on the fact that atgm's are now standard on IFV's even our bmp'2 are equipped with atgm's.




Now for what tanks needs including chinese tanker news think
Translated to English.

the base (non-composite, non-ERA) frontal armor is widely believed to offer protection against 14.5 \text{mm} armor-piercing rounds (STANAG 4569 Level 4 KE), with weaker protection on the flanks.

Also
The Zorawar light tank is equipped with modular composite armor that provides a STANAG Level 4 standard of protection for the frontal arc

So chinese tank nerds think base 7 ton heavier type 15 has same protection as zorawar.


Chinese discussions also heavily emphasize that the modular composite armor and ERA are what provide the true "tank-level" protection against anti-tank weapons.

The enhanced package is designed to defeat threats up to older generation 105 mm APFSDS rounds and warheads. This is a common benchmark cited to establish its combat superiority over older MBTs in neighboring regions.


We can also add modular armour to zorawar.


Now these no. Are still just unofficial ones from online chinese tank nerd community , and i will not take their claims as truth, and i will also not take your claims and assumptions about zorawar and type 15 as truth.

Also remember zorawar weight reduction is not just armour, from drive shaft engine, tracks. Turret all are designed for weight reduction.
Chinese soldiers also have much larger part of their body inside turret of type 15 hence more turret armour, in zorawar almost entirely body is inside hull.

Also
A Leopard 1 C2 tank trial in 2016 found that composite rubber tracks were 47% lighter than the legacy steel tracks, saving over 1,600 kg (1.6 tons) on the complete vehicle.

God Damn composite tracks being1.6 tons lighter than steel ones for leopard.


An estimated weight for the ZTQ-15's 1,000 hp diesel engine is around 2,500 to 3,500 kg (5,500 to 7,700 lbs), based on comparisons with similar-power tank and heavy-duty industrial diesel engines.

The Cummins VTA903E-T760 engine has a dry weight of approximately 1,171 kg.
Used in zorawar.

So we save tons of weight in turret, tracks, engine transmission in zorawar.


Goddam.


How much ton of the extra weight of ztq 15 base varient is actually more assumed armour according to you?


I'm now starting to beleive chinese nerds now
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Just the way you narrated it! As if you were coming to some realisation in the midst of writing 😂👍
 
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Different era, different terrain, and a whole different adversary. Difficult to achieve against the Chinese.

Ankit has made decent points so far.

However, if this is what is desired, what are the chances of replicating tank warfare that happened in 'eye-raq' against the PLA?

Ankit Kumar said:
Our Army is trying very bad to gain the capabilities of what US was able to achive against Iraq. That type of swift offensive thrusts in enemy territory, against a decently organised enemy.

And the US thrust was led on the ground by M1 tanks. The Bradleys got a lot of T55 kills, but they were always behind the M1.
Click to expand...
 
Subgradewalker said:
Just the way you narrated it! As if you were coming to some realisation in the midst of writing 😂👍
Click to expand...
He was on a speed run and latched onto that good stuff. Dopamine did the rest. Brother baba has raised good points.

Ideally the tank should be between 30-35 tonnes all kitted. I do not understand the IA's fascination with keeping it around 25. However, as gents have pointed out it is kind of impractical that it will be kept around that mark. APS and modular add on armor will be part to watch as Speedster pointed out. This just L&T and DRDO. AVNL and BF will bring forth their own prototypes.
 
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This might just be the world's first LT armed with a one-man 105mm turret.

I'd imagine the CO sits in the turret and ammo loading is performed by an autoloader. The driver and gunner are likely seated in the hull in those side-by side-crew stations with large MFDs.

Hope Kalyani comes up with an equally innovative CUAS/APS solution so that those ugly cope capes don't have to be used.
 
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CATS @hunter said:
Zorawar still has more firepower, the atgm in Zorawar changes the balance,
Hope Bharat forge light tank also get's atgm,
And both tank need APS, can't leave it unprotected
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External ATGM is an addon that can be easily integrated into this LT. The ATGM is a DRDO development, so it will definitely be included in this design if selected.

Ad 04 30 said:
How so?

Turret design looks better, but I don't know abour the rest?

It's a great option nonetheless
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Look at the internal design. It's truly modern, similar to an Israeli concept. But, it will take time to be proven.


There are only few companies that has their modular turret. Almost all new light tanks uses Cockerill 3105. That is a big market if they can crack it.
 
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Ashwin said:
Look at the internal design. It's truly modern, similar to an Israeli concept. But, it will take time to be proven.
Click to expand...
The vehicle in the video is the Israeli Carmel IFV tech demonstrator.

It is a testbed for ai assisted navigation, fire control, situational awareness tech, hybrid propulsion, etc. It replaces traditional steering gear with FBW based joystick control.

While the Kalyani LT is likely more modest, many Indian startups have already developed some of the same next-gen tech like 360 degree see-through-armour, ai-assisted fcs, etc.

I don't think the IA could possibly justify buying a foreign LT now (namely Sprut-SD). Nothing else meets the 25t requirement anyway.
 
Speedster1 said:
The vehicle in the video is the Israeli Carmel IFV tech demonstrator.

It is a testbed for ai assisted navigation, fire control, situational awareness tech, hybrid propulsion, etc. It replaces traditional steering gear with FBW based joystick control.

While the Kalyani LT is likely more modest, many Indian startups have already developed some of the same next-gen tech like 360 degree see-through-armour, ai-assisted fcs, etc.

I don't think the IA could possibly justify buying a foreign LT now (namely Sprut-SD). Nothing else meets the 25t requirement anyway.
Click to expand...
We have see through armor product from Tonbo.

WOlfpack_2.jpg


Wolfpack | Tonbo Imaging

WolfPack is a multi aperture and multispectral real time panoramic imaging system designed to increase situational awareness and self-defence capability of a land, marine or an aerial platform.
tonboimaging.com tonboimaging.com
 
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