Indian Arjun MKII Main Battle Tank
In 2012 India fought a bitter and fierce war with the United states of America. Years later, this would lead to religious terrorists releasing nerve gas in New York, which was one of the possible events that started the nuclear exchange which initiated the coming of the Rifts. But it all started out over much smaller issues, with a minor sale of US rocket technology to Pakistan. India viewed this as a direct threat to it national security, and not only closed the US Embassy, it also impounded (sometimes with considerable force) any ships flying the American flag that were sailing in the Indian Ocean at the time. The American reaction to this was predictable and forceful. Within weeks Indias fleet was sitting at the bottom of the ocean, and Abrams tanks were rolling across India. There they met the pride of the Indian army, the Arjun MKII Main Battle Tank.
Although India had by 2012 bought a score of Soviet build TU-12 tanks, The mainstay of their armed forces was the Arjun MKII, a development from the Arjun MBT from the late nineteen nineties. At that moment in time the Arjun was quite a modern tank, and in battle power it nearly equaled the American Abrams in firepower, at least at short range. The reason for this was its huge 176 mm low pressure smoothbore gun, which had been specifically designed to fire HEAT and HE projectiles, rather than the kinetic kill AP and APFSDS rounds that most other countries favored. The Arjun also relied to a great extend on Explosive Reactive Armor for its protection, and had only a relatively light conventional armor layer. All this meant that the Arjun weighed nearly thirty tons less than the Abrams, and with a 1,000 hp diesel engine it had good mobility, good armor at long range, and equal firepower at close range. They were slaughtered by the Americans and their 80 ton monsters with composite Chobham/Depleted Uranium armor. Because the range of the 176 mm gun was relatively low, the Arjuns had to get in close to fight the American tanks, but at those ranges their armor was utterly ineffective against the APFSDS fired from the 120 mm Rheinmetall gun that the Abrams carried. This shortcoming could have been compensated for by superior tactics, but the Americans had better training and more experience.
The Arjun had been designed to fight old t-72 tanks from the Pakistani army, and at that it excelled. The huge smoothbore cannon fired HEAT rounds that could kill any T-72 with a single shot, and the Arjun had superior mobility to the Pakistani tanks. The inability of the gun to fire APSD or APFSDS rounds was not seen as a serious detriment, as those rounds were expensive to make, and the Arjun could also be used as a mobile artillery piece. The cannon was loaded by unusual means: a crew member selected and loaded the projectile, after which a auto loader placed a standard propellant charge in the breech. This was done because to make the 176 mm shells and propellant charges into single rounds would have made the round too heavy to lift for a person, and too long to be used in the carousel of the Russian-style autoloader. Supplementing the cannon was a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun, and on top of the commanders cupola there was a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. Mounted on the sides of the turret were four double launchers for short range missiles. The turret itself was mounted in the conventional place, in the center of the hull, with aft of it the engine compartment, and in front the driver. The entire hull and turret were clad with blocks of ERA, and light conventional armor.
Amongst the preventive measures onboard of the tank were Russian Shtora jammers. Further electronics consisted of a laser rangefinder, a active infrared camera and searchlight, and a basic radio set.
After the war the Arjun MKII stayed in the Indian army, and was even sold to several countries, amongst them mostly countries on the Pacific Rim. When the MDC revolution came the Arjun was also rebuilt, with its machine guns replaced with two railguns instead of one mounted on top of the turret, and a flamethrower replacing the co-axial machinegun, its ammo now doing MDC damage, and its armor also upgraded. That last did not deliver as good results as expected, since it proved impossible to rearmor the tank adequately without overloading the suspension. Thus the MDC Arjun still relied heavily on ERA for protection. One aspect which was improved was the tanks missile carrying capability. On the old version of the tank there had been a huge disposable fuel tank on the rear of the tanks body. With the advent of nuclear power, this tank was replaced by a cheap disposable VLS launcher that held eight short range missiles. This version was sold mainly to Cuba and some African nations. Curiously enough they understood the shortcomings of the tank better than the Indians, and the export countries used the Arjun almost exclusively in the tactical support role. Some of the Arjuns can even now be found in places like the Vampire Kingdoms or the Republic of Colombia.
Stats provided here are those for the export model as it was before the rifts. Almost all surviving Arjuns are modified to some extend, although there is no significant increase in armor possible (max. + 15% per location.)
Model Type: Arjun MKIIb
Vehicle Type: Main Battle Tank
Crew: Four (Driver, Gunner, Loader and Commander).
M.D.C. by Location:
| [1] Tractor Treads (2): | 75 each | |
| Weapons Turret: | 225 | |
| 176 mm Low Pressure cannon: | 80 | |
| Turret mounted 10 mm railguns (2): | 30 each | |
| Co-axial Flamethrower: | 30 | |
| Double Short Range Missile Launchers (4): | 50 each | |
| Disposable Short Range Missile Launcher: | 10 | |
| Shtora Jammers (2): | 45 | |
| [2] Main Body: | 375 |
Notes:
[1] Depleting the M.D.C. of a tread will immobilize the tank until
it is replaced. Replacing a tread will take 1D6x10 minutes by a trained
crew (2 replacements are carried on board) or three times as long by the
inexperienced. Changing the tread is only advisable when the vehicle is
not under attack.
[2] If all the M.D.C. of the main body is depleted, the vehicle is
completely shut down and is unsalvageable.
Special: As the tanks armor mainly consists of Explosive Reactive
Armor, the effects of HE and HEAT rounds are lessened. Deduct 50% of all
damage done by these rounds. This ONLY applies to hits that strike the
turret and the hull! All other hit locations are composed of standard armor.
Speed:
Ground: 60 mph (96.3 kph) maximum road speed; 40 mph (64.2 kph)
maximum off-road speed
Maximum Range: Nuclear fusion reactor; Must be refueled every
ten years, otherwise effectively unlimited.
Statistical Data:
Height: 8 feet (2.4 meters) to top of turret.
Width: 11.33 feet (3.4 meters)
Length: 36.23 feet (10.87 meters) with barrel; 29.67 feet (8.9
meters) for just the hull/main body of the tank.
Weight: 53 tons (48 metric tons) fully loaded
Power Source: Nuclear fusion reactor; Must be refueled every
five years, otherwise effectively unlimited.
Cargo Capacity: Minimal, enough for equipment with crew. Extra
storage rack on back of turret, seldomly used in combat.
Black Market Cost: 2,000,000 Credits was the production price
originally; Remaining tanks sell for up to triple that on the black market;
Reasonable availability.
Weapon Systems:
Sensors:
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By Mischa (E-Mail Mischa ) and
Marina O`Leary (LusankyaN@aol.com) .
Reformatting and minor revisions by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).
Copyright © 2000, Mischa Campen, Marina O`Leary. All rights reserved.
