The Indian Army is looking for active protection systems (APS) to increase the T-90 tanks’ survivability in light of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In order to protect its Russian-origin T-90 tanks from top-attack missiles and loitering munitions, the Army plans to outfit them with APS.
Russian Tank Vulnerability: The conflict in Ukraine has highlighted how susceptible Russian armored units are to contemporary weapons like drones and lightweight, shoulder-fired Javelins and NLAWs. It has been confirmed that more than 1,400 Russian tanks have been destroyed, abandoned, or taken prisoner.
The Indian Army wants to add APS, which include counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) measures, hard kill, and soft kill, to its T-90 tanks. All UAS, including loitering UAVs, first-person view (FPV), swarm, and kamikaze drones, as well as anti-tank projectiles such as RPGs, ATGMs, and chemical and kinetic energy munitions, should be detectable by the APS.
The Army intends to use the Make in India route to carry out the upgrades. To find potential international suppliers to produce the APS for the T-90 S/Sk tanks in India, a Request for Information (RFI) has been released.
Compared to Western Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), Russian tanks are more mobile and have more effective firepower, but they are also less protected. About 1,250 T-90s are in service with the Indian Army, and another 350 are being ordered.
Active protection systems are already installed on Western tanks, such as the US Abrams MBT, to fend off incoming drones and missiles.
The Indian Army is aware that the anti-tank threat is now omnidirectional and not just confined to the frontal arc.
Additional sensors and combat systems should be able to be integrated into the APS, which should be modular. Although the number of APSs to be produced is not specified in the RFI, it is likely that the upgrade will be installed in all T-90S/SK MBTs that are currently in service. While the hard-kill system must be able to neutralize chemical energy (CE) and kinetic energy (KE) projectiles, the soft-kill systems are designed to neutralize UASs and anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine suggests that future conflicts will not be merely traditional; rather, they will adhere to a multi-domain model. Military superiority is supported by the combination of technologies such as robotics, automation, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and space-based surveillance. The lesson for India is to maximize the use of tanks in conjunction with advancements in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), ATGMs, and electronic warfare systems.
