NEWTOWN, Conn. - The Indian Ministry of Defense confirmed this week that it intends to follow through with the contract terms tentatively agreed upon in September for a $197 million procurement of fin-stabilized armor-piercing discarding sabot rounds from Russian defense contractors for the Indian Army's T-90 MBT inventories.
The contract has been the subject of considerable controversy within the Indian defense sector due to the perceived failure of the Indian MoD and Ordnance Factory Board to adequately prepare for the ammunition requirements of operating its T-90 fleet and due to the well-above market pricing level now being demanded by the Russian contractor for the latest procurement contract.
India purchased its first T-90 MBTs in 2000 and over the subsequent decade has acquired large quantities of the modern MBT and continues to produce more through a licensing agreement with the Russian contractor.
However, India's T-90 fleet has been plagued by perpetual shortages in ammunition as a result of mistakes made in the early stages of procurement.
At one time, India intended to use some of the same ammunition produced domestically by India's DRDO for the Army's T-72 inventories for its new T-90s, but testing soon revealed that the ammunition to be incompatible with the new tanks.
Indian contractors did not possess the technical know-how to domestically produce ordnance equivalent to the specialized type required by the T-90 and because the OFB had not secured a licensed production or technology transfer arrangement for Russian-designed T-90 ammunition, the Indian Army was left completely dependent on bulk acquisitions ordered directly from Russian contractors.
Although the Indian Ministry of Defense made repeated requests for an agreement for technology transfer to alleviate the T-90 ammunition problem, such a deal never came to fruition. As a result and despite the high cost, the Indian MoD told Defense News that it had few other options than to agree to the most recent deal in order to keep its T-90s supplied and combat capable.
You have 0 item(s) in your cart