New Delhi, Sept. 21 -- The Ministry of Defence, on Monday, agreed to a contract worth Rs 586 crore with Maharashtra-based Accurate Industrial Controls Private Limited for the acquisition of indigenously designed Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) for the Indian Army's T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks. The agreement was signed in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi.
As per defence officials, this move will improve the readiness of India's mechanised army units. They also argued that the acquisition is not only important for the quantity of the APU being acquired but also for the use of an indigenous industry-developed system in sustaining two of the Army's key armoured platforms.
An Auxiliary Power Unit, in essence, is a portable power generation unit fitted onto a military vehicle. With respect to a tank, it means that this unit serves as a power-generating source that allows the functioning of various units within the tank without keeping the engine always on.
It becomes especially relevant in relation to a modern armoured vehicle because it uses electricity to run such critical systems as the fire control system, firing system, gun stabilisation, and various additional devices. An APU allows generating the electricity independently of the tank's engine and provides it to the units that need it.
It matters from an operational perspective because a tank's engine has been developed specifically to provide mechanical energy for the movement of a heavy armoured vehicle. Using the engine to generate electricity only when the tank does not move requires fuel and adds unnecessary hours to the operation of the engine. An APU enables the tank to stay powered without running its main engine.
In case of an armoured force that operates for extended periods, it can be seen as increased efficiency in terms of use of fuel, reduction in wear of the main engine and also low maintenance needs. The more important part is that the crew is able to maintain the electronic and weapon systems active even when the tank is at rest, making it ready for quick action.
This is becoming increasingly important due to the fact that the existing platforms such as T-72 and T-90 are constantly being upgraded with sophisticated electronic and weapon systems. As the number of electrically powered systems on a tank increases, a reliable auxiliary power source becomes an important part of overall platform sustainability.
Also, the new contract comes with a strong message of indigenisation. According to the Ministry of Defence, the procurement of auxiliary power units is a very important step for indigenisation of critical subsystems of armoured platforms. Instead of thinking of tanks as a whole as something that is foreign to India, one can gradually move to indigenisation of different parts of it.
APU development has been done under the Make-II category wherein India's procurement system for defence equipment encourages industry-led development and production of military equipment. The importance of the model lies in the fact that it aims at bringing the indigenous technologies past the prototype stage to actual production and integration with the armed forces.
Thus, the signing of the contract is the first step towards the process of moving from the development to the procurement phase of the indigenous technology. For the Army, the primary task is to provide a reliable means of an alternate power source for its armoured vehicles. On the part of the indigenous defence industry, the contract offers an opportunity to prove that the privately developed technology can meet the operational needs of the frontline military platform.
The contract also highlights that indigenisation of the defence sector is no longer confined to the big platforms like tanks, aircraft, and warships, but it is also expanding to subsystems that play a crucial role in the availability and performance of these platforms.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.