India has unveiled a new very light class of main battle tank expected to equip armoured units across the country’s mountainous northern regions as a complement to its more widely fielded T-72s and T-90s. The Zorawar Class tank was developed jointly by the country’s Defence Research and Development Organisation and Larsen & Toubro, after minor clashes with Chinese forces in the summer of 2020 highlighted the serious limitations the Army’s armoured units faced when operating in mountainous terrain. The 25 ton tank will be among the lightest in the world, providing a counterpart to the Chinese Type 15 which entered service in the late 2010s. Indicating its intended area of deployment, the tank class was named after the 19th century General Zorawar Singh, who led military operations in the mountainous Ladakh and western Tibetan regions. Fifty-nine of the vehicles are currently on order, with over 200 more planned, although they are only expected to begin entering service in 2027.
India’s lack of experience with tank design has raised serious questions regarding the efficiency of the Zorawar, with the country’s prior tank class the Arjun widely having been considered an abject failure. It has been speculated that India received significant support from Russia for the program, with the country having previously offered its backing to meet Indian requirements for a lightweight tank suited to mountain operations. While the Zorawar is not expected to match the capabilities of the Type 15, an even more capable next generation Chinese light tank is currently under development and is expected to enter service before 2030, possibly at around the same time as the new Indian vehicle. Prototypes of the Chinese tank class have already been sighted. The new Chinese vehicle will have a two man crew – a development totally unprecedented worldwide – and use a range of new automation and sensor technologies not yet seen elsewhere. The vast discrepancy between the Chinese and Indian tech sectors and industrial bases remains a serious constraint on the latter’s ability to complete on a peer level militarily, despite the Sino-Indian border being a far lower security priority for Beijing than it is for Delhi. Nevertheless, relations between the two neighbours have remained relatively cordial with significant steps having been taken by both to resolve disputes peacefully.