China’s ZTQ-15 (or Type 15) light tank, which it successfully deployed in Tibet and Xinjiang
By Vikas Gupta
Defence News of India, 26 January 22
A key procurement decision that emerged during the 20-month armed clash in eastern Ladakh between the Chinese and Indian militaries is for the Indian army to arm itself in high altitude terrain with light tanks built locally.
As tension escalated in May 2020, the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China airlifted Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two armies to strengthen their combat muscles.
However, the advantage fell to the PLA, whose armored units in Tibet are equipped with the new ZTQ-15 (or Type 15) light tank. As Indian armored units struggled to move their underpowered Russian-sourced 42-ton T-72 heavy tanks through mountain passes up to 17,500 feet, China’s 33-ton ZTQ-15 light tanks (36 tons with additional armored slap-ons) were able to move through the 14,000 foot valleys with much greater ease.
With their 1,000 horsepower (hp) Norinco engines, the ZTQ -15 tanks, also called Black Panther, offered a power-to-weight ratio of over 30 hp per ton, which is enough to move the tanks at this depleted altitude in oxygen.
By contrast, India’s 42-ton T-72s, with their 780 hp power packs, offer an underpowered power-to-weight ratio of just 18.5 hp per ton. The T-72s are also much larger than the ZTQ-15, which hampers their mobility over small bridges and narrow roads.
Given these operational drawbacks, Indian tank warfare planners have long discussed the need for a smaller and lighter tank for high altitude warfare. This discussion gained momentum in 2017, when a heavy Chinese buildup in Doklam, Sikkim had to be countered. The PLA’s entry into eastern Ladakh in 2020-21 has once again galvanized the debate.
Light tanks provide utility not only on the high-altitude Sino-Indian border, but also on the mountainous border with Pakistan in J&K. They can also be used for counter-insurgency tasks in the jungle and urban terrain. Airlifting T-72s and T-90s is impossible from high altitude airfields, 10,700 feet high, such as Leh, but 25-30 ton light tanks can be airlifted by the strategic air carriers of the United States. Indian Air Force (IAF), namely the Ilyushin-76. and C-17 Globemaster III. Light tanks also lend themselves more easily to amphibious warfare.
With the motto Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) guiding procurement and having gained experience on the Arjun tank project, the Center for Combat Vehicle Research and Development (CVRDE) – a Chennai-based laboratory of the Organization of R&D for Defense (DRDO) – was given the task.
It was calculated that Indian troops on the 3,488 km Sino-Indian border would need around 350-500 light tanks. There were already two T-72 armored regiments (each with 45 tanks) defending the LAC. Over the years, the army had additionally raised two independent armored brigades – one in Ladakh and the other in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Each of these brigades would field 175 to 200 light tanks.
Tasked with rapidly constructing a native 25-ton light tank, Indian planners presented two options. Both were based on customizing the proven 28-ton chassis, hull and engine of the K-9 Vajra – a heavy tracked artillery gun that L&T manufactured near Pune for artillery with technology transfer of the South Korean defense Hanwha.
Both options involved putting a smaller, lighter turret in place of the K-9 Vajra’s heavy 155mm artillery gun that fires over the horizon from over 40 kilometers away. One option was to equip the light tank with a T-90 turret that mounts a 125mm heavy tank gun. However, the 8-9 ton T-90 tank turret, mounted on the 28-ton chassis, would bring the weight of the light tank to an unacceptably high 36-37 tons.
The second option is to replace the K-9 Vajra’s artillery turret with a smaller turret equipped with a 105mm direct-fire, high-pressure gun. This turret would be purchased, ready for use, from the Belgian firm John Cockerill.
These options, however, were dropped when the military fell back on its tried and true solution of buying Russian tanks. An Indian Army team inspected the Russian 2S25 Sprut armored vehicle, but it soon became clear that the Sprut was not even a tank; it was a less mobile anti-tank weapon, called a “tank destroyer”. Even the Russian Army had been reluctant to induct the Sprut into operational service – The Russian Army only purchased 24 Spruts.
Now Hanwha Defence, which was quick to see an opportunity, is preparing to offer the Indian army its K21-105 light tank. It’s a formidable platform, with a 105mm turret that can reach over 42 degrees of elevation – useful for firing at targets on higher slopes – and at a depression angle of 10 degrees .
However, the army, DRDO and Larsen & Toubro decided to continue the project in cooperation, under the DRDO model of “Development cum Production Partner” (DCPP). In April 2021, the military issued a Request for Information (RFI), mandating an overall tank weight of less than 25 tons and a power-to-weight ratio of at least 25 HP/ton.
According to the RFI, “the light tank must have the versatility to execute operations in variable terrain conditions across various threat profiles and adversary equipment.”
A DCPP agreement involves a company carrying out the development work, while the DRDO provides advice, formulates specifications, contributes to design reviews and provides access to test facilities.
The DCPP model was formalized in the amended version of the DRDO “Technology Transfer Policy and Procedures” dated October 2019. Most development programs are now published under this framework, so the product developed is ready for production immediately after testing is complete.
The development cost, which DRDO incurs in such projects, is not cheap. Nor is the cost negligible to the development partner, in this case L&T, who ends up paying for years of commitment from the talent and the team.
Specifications of the proposed light tank
India has used light tanks in virtually all of its operations since independence. Stuarts and Sherman tanks were used in the Battle of Kohima in 1944. In 1948 these tanks were essential in repelling Pakistani forces at Zojila. In 1962 French AMX-13 tanks were used in the Battle of Gurung Hill and also deployed at Bomdila and Dirang. In 1971, AMX-13 and PT-76 tanks rocked Pakistan in the Battle of Garibpur in Bangladesh.
However, after the AMX 13 and PT 76 tanks were phased out, no replacements were introduced. The army focused on building armor superiority on the Pakistani border and on Pakistan, tank for tank, which required medium and heavy tanks. Today, India has over 4,000 medium tanks, but not a single light tank. It remains to be seen whether Ladakh’s confrontation with China galvanizes change.
