As reported by the media and representatives of the Indian state-owned company Armored Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL), on May 13, 2024, the ceremony of rolling out and handing over the first ten tanks of the new modification T-90 Mk III (Bhishma Mk III) to the Indian army took place at the ANVL's parent enterprise, the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) in Avadi in Chennai, representing an upgraded version of the T-90S/SK tanks produced by HVF under a Russian license (Indian designation Bhishma Mk I/II). The details were published only a month after the ceremony.
One of the first ten tanks of the new modification T-90 Mk III (Bhishma Mk III) transferred to the Indian Army at the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) of the Indian state-owned company Armored Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) in Awadi in Chennai, 05/13/2024 (c) AVNL
On November 6, 2019, the Indian Ministry of Defense issued a contract worth about 20,000 crore rupees ($2.8 billion) to the then state-owned Indian defense industry association Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), which then included the Indian HVF tank factory in Awadi, for the manufacture of 464 modified T-90 Mk III tanks for the Indian Army. as a contract for the continuation of licensed production of T-90S/SK tanks within the framework of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental agreement on the licensed production of 1000 T-90S/SK tanks for HVF. In 2021, the contract was transferred to Armored Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL), which was separated from OFB into a separate company for the production of tanks and armored vehicles.
Earlier in early April 2019, the Security Committee of the Government of India (Cabinet Committee on Security - CCS), headed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the purchase of 464 tanks of the Russian upgraded T-90MS modification for the Indian army in the amount of 134.48 billion rupees (1.93 billion dollars), with an expected delivery in 2022-2026. At the same time, their manufacture was supposed to be carried out at HVF under the same license contract for 1000 T-90S/SK tanks, but with assembly from machine kits supplied by JSC NPK Uralvagonzavod (UVZ).
However, as a result, the corresponding contract for the purchase of T-90MS tanks with Rosoboronexport JSC was not signed by the Ministry of Defense of India, and by the end of 2019, the Indian side decided to continue licensed production of T-90S/SK tanks in Avadi in a form modernized by the national industry under the designation T-90 Mk III. Negotiations on India's acquisition of T-90MS tanks continued for some time, but in the end, the events of 2022 apparently finally eliminated this topic.
A Russian-Indian agreement worth $2.5 billion for the licensed production of 1,000 T-90S/SK (Bhishma) tanks for HVF in the period up to 2020 with the assistance of UVZ was concluded in 2006. The first ten licensed T-90S tanks manufactured by HVF under this agreement were transferred to the Indian army in August 2009, and the first stage for the licensed production of 536 tanks in basic appearance was completed in 2022. Now the implementation of the second stage has begun for the production of the remaining 464 tanks, but now in the guise of the T-90 Mk III. Their delivery to the Indian army is planned within five years.
Earlier, under contracts in 2001 and 2007, the Avadi plant successfully assembled 409 T-90S/SK tanks from machine kits supplied from Russia with UVZ (another 248 T-90S/SK tanks were delivered to India with UVZ ready).
According to Indian sources, the T-90 Mk III tank differs from the T-90S by installing a number of modern Indian-made systems, including the Advance Commander Sight thermal imaging sight, developed and manufactured by the Indian state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) with the participation of the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and includes an extended-range medium-wave infrared (MWIR) thermal imager and a new laser rangefinder. A new ballistic computer and an automatic target tracking system have also been installed, as well as digital radios manufactured by the Indian company Alpha Design Technologies (as part of Adani Defense).
According to a number of sources, the mine protection of the tank has been strengthened and a number of other improvements have been made, including booking. According to a number of publications, it is possible that the T-90 Mk III is also equipped with an upgraded automatic loader, similar to that used on the T-90M/T-90MS, and adapted to accommodate longer armor-piercing sub-caliber projectiles such as the 3BM60.
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The ceremony of handing over to the Indian Army the first ten tanks of the new modification T-90 Mk III (Bhishma Mk III) at the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) of the Indian state company Armored Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) in Awadi in Chennai, 05/13/2024 (c) AVNL
