Indian Army To Induct 464 Upgraded T-90 Bhishma Tanks To Bolster “Shock And Awe” Capabilities On Western Front

Indian Army in its modernisation drive will add additional 464 Russian-origin upgraded T-90 Bhishma battle tanks. The move will bolster the Army’s “shock and awe” capabilities on its western front.

The order cleared last month by a cabinet committee placed the order to produce the tanks to Avadi Heavy Vehicle Factory (HVF) which will deliver the first batch of 64 tanks in 30-41 months at the cost of Rs 13,448 crore.

The Army is aggressively formatting its entire war-fighting machinery with “Cold Start” or “Pro-Active Strategy” which enables faster mobilisation of forces across the border with multiple offensive thrusts with an intent to strike hard.

Indian Armed Force’s new Land Warfare Doctrine will have agile integrated battle groups (IBGs) centred around the T-90s tanks backed with infantry, artillery, air defence backed by attack helicopters and signals and engineers, in a report by Times of India.

India with its 67 armoured regiments have around 1,070 T-90 tanks, 124 Arjun tanks and 2400 T-72 tanks, the T-90 tanks will be armed with laser-guided Invar missiles and 125 mm armour piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS).

Indian Army’s future-ready combat vehicle (FRCV) project will eventually replace the older T-72 tanks with 1,770 FRCVs under the strategic partnership policy and the induction is expected to be from 2027-2028 onward.

Pakistan is also believed to be in talks to acquire the Russian T-90 tanks and produce them indigenously with the help of China, it plans to upgrade its forces with 50 armoured regiments of Ukraine T-80 UD.