Flaws in T 90 Main Battle Tanks troubles Indian Army, page 1
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Topic started on 30-6-2006 @ 08:23 AM by Number23

Chandigarh: Inducted to serve as India's main battle tank just over three years ago, the Army's fleet of Russian-built T-90s have run into serious trouble.

The problems include critical flaws in its fire control system, availability of ammunition and, what military officers said, was avoidable overuse during training exercises, rendering many tanks in need of overhaul.

According to Jane's Defence Weekly, the tank's continuing technical flaws are "adversely impinging on the Indian Army's operational preparedness."

Confirming the Jane's report, senior Army officers told this newspaper that the French Catherine thermal imaging (TI) camera, which gives the T-90's Belarussian (Peling IG-46) night sight its 3 km range and higher accuracy, is not "adequately tropicalised" and hence prone to malfunctioning in the extreme heat of the Rajasthan desert region, where temperatures inside the MBT routinely average between 55ºC and 60ºC.

During repeated manoeuvres in the Thar Desert, where the T-90s will ultimately be deployed in the event of an outbreak in hostilities, prolonged use under high temperatures had already "knocked out" between 80 and 90 of the Catherine TI cameras, rendering the FCS "unserviceable." The officers said that repeated efforts to correct the problem had been without success.

The TI cameras are the crucial "eyes" of the tank's systems. At Rs 2 crores each, the Catherine TI system comprises almost one-sixth of each T-90's total cost of Rs 11.75 crores.

www.india-defence.com...


I know the template around here is America=Bad, everybody else=Good. But the fact remains that Russian military has been consistently outclassed by its American counterparts. This is just another example.

Maybe the "T" stands for target.


reply posted on 1-7-2006 @ 02:14 PM by Daedalus3
Firstly, the Indians didn't 'mess' up the T-90 Fire ctrl system. They tried to enhance it by
fitting it with a thermal imaging system that would atleast double the gunner's night targetting range.
Note the above quoted article gives the French thermal imaging system a range of 3km while the default thermal imaging on the T-90S for night vision is half of that for the gunner and 1/4th of that for the commander.
I am unable to get the exact specs on the Catherine TI system from independant sources, but I will try for the same.

Compare this to the night vision ranging capabilities on the M1A2 Abrams and other major tanks like the Challenger and Merkava:

I think its about 2500 to 3500 meters for the gunner's target identification; correct me if I'm wrong.


Default T-90S FCS & Night Vision:

The T-90S has the 1A4GT integrated fire control system (IFCS) which is automatic but with manual override for the commander. The IFCS contains the gunner's 1A43 day fire control system, gunner's TO1-KO1 thermal imaging sight which has a target identification range of 1.2km to 1.5km and commander's PNK-S sight.

The gunner's 1A43 day FCS comprises: 1G46 day sight/rangefinder with missile guidance channel, 2E42-4 armament stabilizer, 1V528 ballistic computer and DVE-BS wind gauge.

The commander's PNK-4S sight includes a TKN-4S (Agat-S) day/night sight which has identification ranges of 800m (day) and 700m (night). The driver is equipped with a TVN-5 infrared night viewer.
Source


So there's nothing wrong with the T-90S basic config and the Indians didn't 'mess' it up. Its a phase of trial and tweaking. The temperature problems with the catherine systems will not and cannot halt the IN Army T-90 program. I'll be the first to post links when a solution is found and incorporated.

As for the faulty ammunition, again there's nothing wrong with the Russian supply, and the Indian ammunition which is clearly an attempted improvement over the Russian supplied 125mm bore ammo also has climate issues.
IMHO this is all a part and parcel of trying to tweak a system for maximum yield and setbacks are probable. Nothing wrong with Russian equipment AND nothing wrong with trying to build on it. End of discussion.


reply posted on 1-7-2006 @ 03:39 PM by ch1466
Snort.

This is what happens when you try to kill a hammer with another hammer.

Micromental 'see first and pray later' performance variables make all the difference on an engagement you either fight to a victory or lose completely because at the typical engagement distances, you can't break contact and run away in desultory form no matter what.

I'm reminded of Hamilton and Burr playing at 'matters of honor'.

WHY would ANYONE want to use line of sight, heavy-tubed, weapons fire to kill other weapons systems of like capabilities with overlapping fire control and lethality envelopes?

You either go artillery or CAS to remove the fight from the field of counterfire altogether. Or you up the ante to the point where the other guy is dying before any threat option to make an honest fight of it exists on the same plane-of-combat.

In the latter instance, the obvious key here is likely to go with a LIDAR or 'range gated TV' and back it up with MMW for night, if possible with scatterable UGS/mine combos like REMBASS and FASCAM to channelize threats into preconditioned killsacs and then snap-illuminate based on early warning cue.

Whether you do it on a single vehicle (probably airborne to increase the SO range) or all of them to deny jamming and illuminator kill, if you can combine a maximum rate hypervelocity rocket (Vikhr with a new motor) with an _automated_ fire control system (track what you see, handed over team-link); by the time the threat get's round to deploying CM or evasive maneuver a couple seconds later, they are EATING 2km/sec _sustained_ rounds. With as much MJ as 120mm DM-53 has leaving the muzzle.

All form 4-6kms or 'whatever the LOS will provide for' (in a desert I would assume it would be pretty long) right on in to 1.

If every vehicle in a ten tank platoon equivalent (might as well be APC with these kind of lethalities) carries only eight such weapons in ready to use mode and can fire half of them on _independently trackfiled_ threats in an interval of say 20 seconds, there is not an American or Russian nor certainly Chinese or Pakistani armor team on the planet that can stand against you with an average 7-10 rounds per minute out of a manual or 10-15 rounds per minute from the /latest/ autoloadeders.

Not only that but you can afford to spend FOUR TIMES as much on vehicle integration (bigger bloody ECS) because you only have HALF the total fires vehicles vs. sensor systems requirements on your cost issues while still DOUBLING the number of instantaneous kills going out simultaneously to the threat.

But there y'all sit, happy as armored clams, just /swwwwingin'/ those those damn hammers together.


KPl.


Having now read the full article, I can well imagine the cartoon in Armor Magazine: Indian tank gunner, standing in a slit trench holds one hand in front of his face, vee'd open over one eye, with a REALLY LONG string vanishing back through the TC's hatch. One ridgeline over, the TC 'monitors down range' with an astronomy telescope and a stopwatch. Off into the distance stretchs a line of similar vehicles with banana peel muzzles and herniated gas evacuators.

Caption header reads 'Fire Control integration now completed, India's T-90 AMK-340 reliability testing continues: "No Singh-In-Rain we //triple// packed each shell with propellant just to be sure they work!"'

Snicker, who does an Indian call for technical support anyway?

[edit on 1-7-2006 by ch1466]
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