PM Narendra Modi to dedicate battle tank Arjun to the nation on February 14

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the main battle Tank Arjun Mark1A to the nation on February 14, 2021. The battle tank's induction will boost the Make in India's efforts of the defence sector. 

The Defence Ministry had recently in a high-level meeting cleared the induction of 118 Arjun Mark1A tanks into the Indian Army. The tanks would be worth around Rs 8,400 crore and are expected to boost the strength of the force in land warfare.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials stated that PM Narendra Modi would be dedicating the latest version of the Arjun tank to the nation on February 14 in Chennai at the tank production facility in Avadi.

DRDO Chairman Satheesh Reddy will hand the first Arjun Mark 1A to Prime Minister Modi.

Arjun Tank: Key Details

•The Arjun tank has been fully designed and developed by the DRDO in close coordination with the Indian Army.

•The 118 tanks would be joining the fleet of the first batch of 124 Arjun tanks that have already been inducted into the Army and are deployed in the western desert along the Pakistan front.

•The 118 Arjun tanks would form two regiments in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army like the first 124 tanks.

•The Army has reduced the number of tanks required for the formation of a tank regiment and hence, the present order has six lesser tanks than the previous order for two regiments.

Background

The DRDO has been developing the Arjun Mark 1A battle tank for some time now and the project was fastened by both Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and DRDO chief Dr. G Satheesh Reddy to increase the level of indigenous weapon systems in the armed forces.

The tank has been designed by the DRDO's Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE).

The tanks will be produced by the Ordnance Factory Board's (OFB) Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) Avadi and the first batch of five main battle tanks will be handed over to the army within two-and-a-half years of the signing of the contract.