By A Correspondent

New Delhi: The Indian Army plans to induct 354 indigenous Zorawar light battle tanks for high-altitude warfare along the China border, but delayed by two years due to inadequate protection for the war-fighting machine. The Zorawar deployment plans have been pushed to the 2028-29 fiscal, beyond the original delivery schedule of 2026-27 fiscal, to allow the upgrade of the armoured combat vehicle’s protection suite to above STANAG Level 4.

In a series of interviews with the Indian media, Indian Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said the Zorawar tanks, developed in a record two years after the 2020-24 Ladakh military conflict with China, were delayed due to developmental inadequacies. The deployment of the Zorawar tanks along the Line of Actual Control with China would boost the Indian Army’s war-fighting capabilities to counter the People’s Liberation Army.

“Issues noticed during development and testing are being addressed through the normal design refinement cycle. Based on present timelines, Zorawar’s induction is likely in the 2028-2029 timeframe, subject to successful completion of trials, user evaluation, and production readiness,” Gen Dwivedi said in an interview with Hindustan Times on June 4, but published on June 7. The army chief said the induction of the Zorawar tanks would significantly improve military deployment, troop induction speed, and the armoured regiments’ combat response in the mountains, without explicitly mentioning China or the Ladakh conflict.

The developmental inadequacies that needed addressing were the existing protection suites. The Indian Army flagged that the current STANAG Level 4 protection against enemy fire needed enhancement, altering the Zorawar tank’s power-to-weight ratio. The STANAG Level 4 protection can defeat machine gun fire, artillery shrapnel, and limited mine blasts, the Economic Times reported on Thursday, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the matter. The induction of the advanced tanks would be delayed by two years, though it had been offered for induction in early 2027, the report said.

The Chinese PLA had deployed several modern tanks, including the light armoured vehicles with a high power-to-weight ratio, along the LAC with India during the Ladakh faceoff between April 2020 and October 2024. To counter the PLA’s armoured column deployment on its side of the yet-to-be demarcated border, India was forced to rush the heavier Russian-origin T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks to Ladakh. The eyeball-to-eyeball conflict, with matching force levels, ended with a mutual de-escalation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met in Kazan, Russia, during a BRICS summit in 2024.

The Indian Army’s heavier tanks came with agility limitations in the high-altitude mountainous terrain of Ladakh. The T-72s and T-90s, Soviet-era and Russian-designed tanks, respectively, were originally designed for deployment in the flat plains and desert warfare. In response to China’s tank deployments, India developed the Zorawar tanks in two years, a record, after consultations among the army, defence research agencies, and the private industry, to plug the critical gap in India’s high-altitude warfare matrix noticed during the Ladakh conflict.

Indian Army light battle tanks induction plans

The Indian Army would spend INR 17,500 crore on buying 354 Zorawars, a 25-tonne light battle tank. The Army chief said in those interviews that the Zorawar showcased India’s domestic defence manufacturing prowess. The state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) designed the light tank under ‘Project Zorawar’, manufactured by private sector production partner, Larsen & Toubro.

While L&T would supply the first 59 Zorawar tanks, the remaining 295 tanks required by the Army will be produced by a company chosen through a competitive process as a separate project. The private company has experience in assembling the K9 Vajra self-propelled tracked artillery guns for the Indian Army and has set up an assembly line at its Hazira facility in Gujarat.

“It (the tank) is being designed as a light, agile, and technologically advanced armoured platform tailored for our terrain, especially high-altitude areas. The requirement is for a protected, mobile, manned-unmanned teaming-enabled platform with substantial firepower, surveillance, and communication capabilities,” the army chief was quoted as saying by HT.

The Zorawar tank would be light enough to be airlifted to remote mountainous terrain, be capable of performing amphibious assault operations, and fire at higher angles of elevation to serve as limited artillery.

Referring to India’s “unique” geography and security environment spanning mountains, deserts, jungles, plains, riverine areas, island territories, and long unsettled borders, the army chief said: “This demands preparedness across all five generations of warfare, from traditional contact battles to hybrid, non-contact, technology-driven and cognitive warfare. We need Indian solutions for Indian challenges because our terrain, threat matrix, and operational demands are unique. Indigenisation is central to the army’s modernisation journey.”

Gen Dwivedi’s comments came just a day ahead of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, reviewing the prototype of the Zorawar tank at L&T’s Hazira facility in Gujarat. After inspecting the Zorawar prototype last Friday, Modi posted on X: “The role played by L&T in furthering self-reliance in the defence sector is commendable.” The indigenous light tank has been named after the legendary general, Zorawar Singh, who led the Dogra forces a record six times to victory in battles between 1834 and 1841 in the Ladakh and Tibet region against the then Chinese forces.

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