Zorawar Light Tank: Developed in a record time of just two years, DRDO's light tank Zorawar will soon witness its first deployment on the field, Dr Samir V Kamat, head of the premier defence manufacturing body, said on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Dr Kamat reviewed the trials of the indigenous tank. Zorawar is being jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) at Gujarat's Hajira plant.
Zorawar, designed for specific needs for the high-altitude Indo-China border, is expected to be inducted into the Indian defence arsenal in 2027, Kamat said. The tank is currently in the advanced stage of trials at the Hajira plant.
The tank, with its lightweight and amphibious capabilities, can travel through steep climbs in mountains and cross rivers and other water bodies much more easily than the heavy-weight T-72 and T-90 tanks, ANI said in an X post.
Zorawar Light Tank: All You Need To Know
1. Dubbed the 'mountain tank', it has been named after General Zorawar Singh Kahluria, who led the Dogra forces against the Tibetan army in 1841 at the mighty Kailash Mansarovar.
2. The project was initiated after the Galwan skirmish revived the apprehensions of a full-blown war along the Line of Actual Control (LoAC). It was after the Indian side learnt about China's deployment of Type 15 light tanks at the border, that steps were taken to procure or produce such tanks by India.
3. Weighing at just 25 tonnes, Zorawar can transcend mountain slopes at a very high speed. It runs on a 750 hp Diesel engine and will be supplemented by artificial Intelligence.
4. According to Wikipedia, the Zorawar tank will come with an in-built integration of swarm drones for higher situational awareness.
5. 59 of these tanks will be provided to the Army initially and it will be a front runner for the major programme of 295 more of these armoured vehicles.
The Indian Air Force can supply two tanks at a time in the C-17 class transport aircraft as the tank is light and can be run at high speeds in mountain valleys, ANI reported.