Close on the heels of their baptism during war games in the Thar desert, the country’s indigenous Arjun battle tanks would undergo final user comparative trials next month, leading to their induction into the Army. “It is the topmost priority of his government to operationalise the Arjun tanks,” Defence Minister A K Antony said on Friday.

Defects rectified
“There were some defects, which have now been removed,” Mr Antony told reporters on the sidelines of a defence function here.
While admitting that some more problems were there with the tanks, Mr Antony said that 14 Arjun tanks would undergo comparative summer trials against Russia supplied T-90 and upgraded T-72 in the Thar desert next month, prior to their induction. During the recent exercise “Ashwamedh”, the Army had for the first time fielded Arjun tanks in war manoeuvres. The government has already cleared commercial production of 124 Arjun tanks to equip two armoured regiments.