Video Shows Indian T-72 Tanks Manoeuvring The World's Highest Battleground;

The recent escalation of aggression by the Chinese, on India's border with Tibet, brings into focus availability of options for an Indian pushback, in the event of further Han Chicom escalation. One among the many, thwarting PRC's attempt at crossing the Rubicon, would be India's Armoured Formations, deployed on the Ladakhi plains, located at the unimaginably challenging altitudes, in excess of 4,500 metres.

This interesting, undated video footage, above, shows a convoy of Indian Army's T-72 Tanks, executing manoeuvres in the icy Plateaus of the Ladakh region, bordering Tibet. Reports indicate that the Indian Army has stationed a Brigade-strength of, roughly, 174 T-Series tanks [3 Regiments] in Ladakh, under the Command of it's XIV 'Fire & Fury' Corps. Of these, two Regiments [116] are composed of the T-72 Tanks - one being 4 Horse, while the more advanced T-90 equipped 85th Armoured Regiment, completes the triumvirate. 

Availability of these Russian-origin, Indian-built Tanks, with their 125 mm bore Main Gun Barrel, lends Field Commanders the flexibility to bear considerable firepower upon the Aggressor. Clearly visible in the video, under a thick layer of snow, are the Explosive Reactive Armour [ERA] modules covering the Tank's Turret, & Hull. These fitments are a result of India's in-house upgrade programme, the end-result that India calls the Combat Improved Ajeya [CI Ajeya].

For a considerable time, word on the streets has been that the Indian Army is looking to enhance the lethality of it's T-Series tanks, for launching 3rd-gen Anti-Tank Missiles from it's Smooth Bore Barrel. It would engage targets over a range of 8 kilometres at any given time of the day, whether visible or not [LOS, BLOS, NLOS]. A Barrel replacement plan, it has set in motion, so that a common successor, mounted on either tanks, can fire higher-penetration Armoured Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot [APFSDS] projectiles, than what it is currently capable of.

In the meanwhile, the Army has gone ahead replenishing it's inventory, stocking up on APFSDS ammunition that the current Barrels can fire.

A retrofitted Auxiliary Power Unit [APU] is also sought to be mounted on the Russian Tanks, to ration engine operation. APU has been a native feature of the indigenously developed Arjun Main Battle Tank [MBT]. The previously Night-blind T-72 Tanks have received upgrades, now making them capable of combating, both, darkness & the enemy.

Capability enhancements resulted in T-72's weight gain. To maintain original performance parameters, Defence Research & Development Organisation [DRDO] lab, the Avadi-based Combat Vehicle Research & Development Establishment [CVRDE] lead a developmental effort. This resulted in uprating the original engine to output 1000 HP of Power, from the earlier 780 HP. This would be implemented across the entire T-72 IA fleet. While the Western Sector would be a major focus of, best avoided, Tank Battles for the Army, with it's vast stretches of undulating plains, starting from Gujarat, extending up North to Punjab, these upgrades would equally benefit the Tank in it's China-facing deployments too.

Via Spansen