PM hands over Arjun Mk-1A tank to Army  

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday handed over the indigenous main battle tank Arjun Mk-1A to the Army in a function at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.

About the tank:

• A tank made in Tamil Nadu will be used in our northern borders to keep the nation safe.
• The state-of-the-art indigenous main battle tank has been indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by CVRDE, DRDO along with 15 academic institutions, eight labs and several MSMEs.
• With modern battle tank technologies, it is distinct from the contemporary main battle tanks and is a dependable warfighting machine.
• The Arjun MBT Mk-1A is a weapon platform with superior firepower, high mobility, excellent protection and crew comfort with 14 major upgrades on Arjun MBT Mk-1, according to the CVRDE.
• The Arjun Main Battle Tank project was initiated by DRDO in 1972 with the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) as its lead laboratory.
• The objective was to create a “state-of-the-art tank with superior fire power, high mobility, and excellent protection”.
• Mass production began in 1996 at the Indian Ordnance Factory’s production facility in Avadi, Tamil Nadu.
• The Arjun tanks stand out for their ‘Fin Stabilised Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (FSAPDS)’ ammunition and 120-mm calibre rifled gun.
• It also has a computer-controlled integrated fire control system with stabilised sighting that works in all lighting conditions.

How is the Mk-1A different?

• The Mk-1A version has 14 major upgrades on the earlier version.
• It is also supposed to have missile firing capability as per the design, but this feature will be added later as final testing of the capability is still on.
• However, the biggest achievement with the latest version is 3 percent indeginous content against the 41 per cent in the earlier model.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-what-is-the-arjun-main-battle-tank-mk-1a-7188226/

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/pm-hands-over-arjun-mk-1a-tank-to-army/article33837727.ece