The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has successfully test-fired a domestically produced laser-guided anti-tank missile from the Arjun main battle tank on June 28, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on June 28 through the Government Press Information Agency. ATGM).
The Defense Department said the latest test assessed the ATGM’s ability to engage targets at its minimum range. Early trials of the ATGM evaluated its performance over longer distances.
ATGM tests were conducted by the Indian Army and state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) using Army KK Ranges near Ahmed Nagar in western India. According to the Defense Department, the ATGM successfully defeated the target “at minimal range” and “the telemetry system recorded satisfactory flight performance of the missile,” although it did not disclose specifics.
“Due to the size constraints of tank-launched anti-tank missiles, attacking targets at lower ranges is a challenge, which has been successfully accomplished by MBT Arjun’s anti-tank missiles,” the MoD noted.
“Through trials, the ATGM has established the ability to strike targets from minimum to maximum range.”
The unnamed ATGM was developed by DRDO’s Arms Research and Development Facility (ARDE), High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) and Instrument Research and Development Facility (IRDE).
The Defense Department earlier revealed that ATGMs are equipped with tandem high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads that can defeat armored vehicles, including those equipped with explosive reactive armor (ERA). Early trials in September 2020 and October 2020 tested its ability to hit targets 3km and 5km away, respectively.
The Indian Army had earlier trialled the Israeli-made IAI LAHAT ATGM in January 2004 with the aim of arming the first production Arjun tanks. This did not happen, however, and the service ended up using the jointly developed Invar ATGM on its vast fleet of Russian T-72 and T-90 tanks. The weapon is based on the Russian 9M119M Refleks 125mm laser-guided round, produced locally by Bharat Dynamics Limited with support from Rosoboronexport.
by Jr Ng
