Republic Day 2021: Third generation T-90, the world's strongest battletank, will be at the parade
Indian Army will showcase its might on Republic Day parade with a display of its third-generation main battle tank T-90 which is heavily-deployed in Eastern Ladakh against the armoured columns of Chinese People's Liberation Army.
FollowIndian Army will showcase its might on Republic Day parade with a display of its third-generation main battle tank T-90 which is heavily-deployed in Eastern Ladakh against the armoured columns of Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Besides, it will also display BMP2 armoured personnel carrier, Pinaka multiple launch rocket system, Shilka anti-aircraft gun system and Brahmos land-attack missiles during the 72nd Republic Day parade on January 26 amidst the Covid pandemic.
Due to Covid protocols, there will be six marching contingents from the army. Each contingent will consist of 96 troops. Earlier, there were 144 soldiers.
Captain Karanveer Singh, who will lead the tank team on Rajpath told Asianet Newsable, "Its a 3rd generation T-90 tank, also known as Bhishma. Talking of the potency of the equipment, it has 125 mm gun which had the capability to fire various kinds of ammunition, being singular in the Army to fire a guided missile."
"This can neutralise any target up to 5000 meters of distance. And it can range at 50 to 60 km per hour on land, it can go underwater up to 5 meters and for aerial targets it has 12.7mm NSVT gun. It can bring down any chopper any drone which comes under its vicinity," he added.
It is important to mention here that India has deployed its main battle tank along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, above 15000 feet amidst the ongoing border standoff with China.
The T-90 is equipped with thermal imaging allowing it to hit enemy locations even during night battles. In fact, the Bhishma is considered to be the most infallible tank on the planet.
Indian Army has deployed the Russian-origin T-90 at several locations in the eastern Ladakh from Depsang plains in Daulat Beg Oldie sector to the southern bank of Pangong lake including the Spanggur gap area and the Chumar-Demchok sector to counter the China's PLA and they can operate in extreme cold weather conditions.
Last year, the defence ministry has signed a deal with Bharat Earth Movers Limited for mine ploughs, worth Rs 557 crore. The ploughs will help in clearing minefields as the troops move forward.
In July last year, when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Leh to review the security scenario post-Galwan valley violent faceoff, the T-90 carried out exercises in full throttle.
In 1992, the Russian Army inducted the T-90s into its service while in 2001, the Indian Army signed a deal for supply of 310 T-90 tanks. Out of which, 124 were completed in Moscow while the remaining were delivered in "knocked down" form for final assembly in India.
After the initial purchase of 310 T-90 tanks in 2001, India signed a contract for licence production of 1,000 vehicles in 2004.
In 2007, a third agreement was signed for 347 vehicles and in November 2019, the defence ministry placed a $2.8 billion deal with the Ordnance Factory Board to licence-build 464 additional T-90s tanks at its heavy vehicle factory in Avadi, Tamil Nadu.
