In the early 90s, the command of the Indian Army intended to begin replacing the obsolete T-55 and Vidjajanta in service. The first ones, purchased in the Soviet Union, were created back in the 50s, while the second ones, which are a version of the British Vickers Mk.1, have been produced since 1965.
Found an old unique photo of mine.
The only T80U qualified tank Cdr of the indian army ? pic.twitter.com/vFwLb9kqcn
— Rajendra Bhaduri (@BhaduriRajendra) December 7, 2021
They tried to modernize this technique. So, the "fifty-fifths" received 105-mm rifled L7A1 guns instead of 100-mm guns. Fire control systems were modified on licensed English cars. However, these measures were considered insufficient to make tanks truly modern.
Since the development of the national main battle tank Arjun turned into a long-term construction, it was decided to get to know the newest Russian T-80U at that time.
The "Eighties" had already managed to vividly declare itself at the arms exhibition in Abu Dhabi, where it was nicknamed "flying" because of its outstanding high-speed and maneuverable characteristics and for its ability to make jumps.
There are practically no video materials and photos from the tests, but last Tuesday a photo of the T-80U with an Agava-2 night thermal imaging sight appeared on the Network.
Multi-kilometer runs, according to some reports, revealed that the 1250-horsepower gas turbine is not very suitable for a desert area with a large amount of loess dust.
Interestingly, during the work on Arjun, an option with a 1500 hp GTD was also worked out, but due to the occurrence of numerous problems, a diesel engine was still preferred.
In 1993-94, the T-80U was also tested in Sweden, including in harsh winter conditions, where they showed their best side, passing everything without a single breakdown.
Alexey Moiseev
