The Indian Defence Ministry has claimed that it has achieved a "quantum jump" for its 58 tonner Arjun MBT tanks' fire-power, after Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully test-fired a new kind of ammunition known as penetration-cum-blast (PCB) and Thermobaric (TB) Ammunition.
The new ammunition managed to "destroy the target tank" and was able to "severely" harm the target tank's turret, barrel, tracks, ammunition bin, various sights, antennas etc., noted the Defence Ministry's press release.
The test was conducted in Chandipur, Odisha on 6 January, 2015 in the presence of Army representatives and DRDO officials.
The TB ammunition was developed after "extensive research" using an "innovative chemical composition" following an evaluation of varied targets and parameters. It also noted that these were "unique" trails and it was the "first time" that such evaluation was carried out in India.
The ammunition was developed by Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), which are DRDO labs based in Pune.
The successful test-firing comes as good news to India's Arjun tanks which has had a problematic past. Earlier reports had claimed that the majority of the original Arjun tanks were grounded due to technical snags and lack of imported components.
Arjun MBT was indigenously developed and so far the Indian Army has ordered about 248 tanks of two variations. India also has a large number of the Russian T-90 and T-72 tanks in its inventory.
This news comes even as India and France are conducting Indo-French Joint Exercise Shakti 2016 in Rajasthan.
