T-90 deal will bring 310 tanks to India

T-90 deal will bring 310 tanks to India
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 15: India will acquire 310 state-of-the-art T-90 tanks from Russia following a deal signed today in the presence of Russian deputy prime minister Ilya Klebanov and defence minister George Fernandes.

The tanks with a superior missile firing capabilities, better mobility, communication, fire power and night-vision devices can engage a target up to five kilometers away. The deal is said to have cost between $600-650 million.

Three agreements were signed today under which the 124 complete tanks will be provided to India and another 186 in semi- and completely knocked down condition. These will be assembled at Avadi, Tamil Nadu. The agreements also cover transfer of technology for the manufacture of guided missiles in fully-formed and semi-knocked down condition by Bharat Dynamics Limited.

Fernandes described the deal as ``significant and said that the focus would be on the manufacture of the T-90 Tanks in the country.'' The agreement was signed between Sergei Chemezor, first deputy director general of Rosovoorzhenie and Ranjit Issar, Joint Secretary (Ordnance).

The Armoured Corps had urgently demanded the T-90 tanks for deployment in the western sector after Pakistan acquired a large number of T-80 tanks from Ukraine. Sources said that the arrival of the T-90 tanks will further push back the so called Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun, which the Armoured Corps sources say they would ``dread using in battle''. The army has, however, asked for the production of 124 MBT Arjun tanks too.

India will be the first country to deploy the T-90 tank which is equipped with dynamic systems to defend it against attacks from highly accurate weapons.

The deal had led to some controversy with former Prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda alleging that the T-90 tanks were being bought for kickbacks. Gowda said he was in favour of upgrading the T-72 tanks.

An Indian defence team will travel to Russia next month to inspect the aircraft carrier `Admiral Gorshkov' that Moscow has offered to sell to India and will also visit the shipyard where the naval version of the Mig-29K is being fitted, Russian deputy prime minister Ilya Klebanov said here today.

Klebanov told Indian journalists that he had ``very constructive'' meetings with his Indian interlocutors, including Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Brajesh Mishra, Fernandes, Finance minister Yashwant Sinha and Civil Aviation minister Sharad Yadav.

Proof of the ``strategic partnership'' declaration signed last year during the visit of President Putin, Klebanov said, can be seen in the agreements signed on defence and air-worthiness.

Another interesting project in the pipeline is a proposal to put Indian computers in Russian schools, the Russian leader added. ``This was discussed during my trip and we hope that implementation will start this year itself,'' he added.

But just as Russia has been supplying India with large amounts of military hardware, Klebanov said he hoped there would be a reverse stream of technological assistance from India, especially in information technology and software development.

``We are very interested that India will help Russia gain expertise in these fields,'' he said.

To concretise the bilateral relationship, Klebanov said, both sides are likely to identify projects in the following areas: civil aviation, automotive industry, computers, pharmaceuticals and machine-building tools.