According to Army Recognition, the ZTQ-15 has a 3-man crew and weighs 33 to 36 tons, depending on the armor configuration. India’s Project Zorawar is pointed against China’s ZTQ-15 light tank, which has been deployed in the Himalayas. It also states that the tank should have a 25:1 horsepower-per-ton ratio and feature low ground pressure to operate in marginal terrain and wetlands, with fording capability seen as essential. The document also mentions compliance with Standard NATO Agreement (STANAG) armor protection levels, with add-on explosive reactive armor (ERA) applicable. It also notes that the tank will feature a remote-control weapons station (RCWS) for its secondary armament. The main gun should have an autoloader and will be able to fire modern smart munitions and anti-tank-guided missiles (ATGM). In response to these shortcomings, the Indian Ministry of Defense (MOD) issued in April last year a Request for Information for Light Tanks for the Indian Army, which outlines requirements for 350 indigenously-built light tanks alongside their design parameters.Īccording to the document, India’s light tanks should not exceed 25 tons and should have a modular design. However, the Russia-Ukraine War has since impacted the manufacturing and sustainment of India’s Russian-made tank fleet, making it imperative for India to design and develop indigenous light tanks, notes Rajat Pandit in an August article for The Times of India. He noted that India was keen to acquire Russia’s Sprut SDM1 because it has the same 125-mm gun and ammunition as its T-90 and T-72. In 2021, in a stopgap measure, India considered acquiring 18-ton Sprut SDM1 light tanks to counter China’s light armor, notes Snehesh Alex Philip in The Print. She notes that India’s armored battalions struggled to transport their heavy tanks to mountain passes 5,300 meters high while China’s 33-ton ZTQ-15 light tanks easily negotiated the rugged terrain. India’s Russian-designed T-72 (shown above) and T-90 tanks did not perform well in Himalayan combat with China. In a March 2022 article for Eurasian Times, Sakshi Tiwari notes that India’s 45-ton T-90 and T-72 tanks, designed for mass armored maneuvers on open deserts or plains, were not suited for high-altitude warfare during the 2020 clashes. The neglect of light tanks for mountain warfare may have been due to the preoccupation of India’s defense planners with Pakistan, which they deemed as the more immediate threat. However, in the 1980s, these light tanks were phased out in favor of heavier main battle tanks (MBT), which have several limitations in mountain warfare. Shivane notes that India had successfully deployed French-made AMX 30 light tanks in earlier mountain border skirmishes with Pakistan and China in 19, respectively. He notes that forward deployment of light tanks, armored personnel carriers (APC), attack helicopters, infantry, special forces, light artillery, and combat aircraft supported by drone and satellite intelligence in the guise of a training exercise could have prevented that year’s lethal border skirmishes. In a 2020 article for Raksha Anirveda magazine, Retired Lieutenant General Ashok Bhim Shivane wrote that India’s lack of light tanks contributed to its failure to deter China’s advances in the high mountain area. The 2020 Ladakh clashes exposed India’s capability gaps in its disputed border with China. Janes also mentions that L&T is collaborating with the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), with the latter’s Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) leading its work. Prototype equipment has passed field tests for induction clearance, after which production can commence. However, it is unclear if L&T will play a role in the tank’s actual production process.
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