Two Indian Army personnel were killed and one was injured during a military exercise in Madhya Pradesh's Babina on September 6, Army officials said today. Per reports, the Army personnel sustained grievous burn injuries as the barrel of the Russia-made tank exploded.
The T-90 tank was manned by a crew of three personnel and was commanded by a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO).
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The commander and the gunner succumbed to burn injuries. The driver is out of danger and under treatment at Babina's military hospital.
The Army has launched a probe into the accident.
"Two Indian Army personnel, including a JCO, lost their lives after the barrel of a T-90 tank burst during a field firing exercise today in Babina Cantonment near Jhansi. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident," Army's official statement said.
All you need to know about India's T-90 tanks
The T-90 tanks are Russian-made. It is the mainstay of India's tank regiments. It came into service in the Russian Army in 1992. The tank has a 125 mm smoothbore main gun, a robust engine, and the 1A45T fire-control system. It also has a state-of-the-art defense system. Its armor is a blend of high-grade steel, it has smoke grenade dischargers, Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armor (ERA), and the Shtora infrared anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) jamming system.
It has a V-92S diesel engine. The current iteration of the tank has a 1,250 horsepower engine. The 1,000 horsepower engine can attain a top speed of 60 kilometers per hour which is decent by tank standard.
In 2001, India purchased 310 T-90 tanks from Russia out of which 186 were to be locally assembled. In 2006, Indian and Russia signed another contract for 330 T-90S Bhishma tanks that were to be made in Tamil Nadu.
The Bhishma version of the tank is tailored for Indian use cases and is developed in collaboration with Russia and France.
In 2021, the army was looking to upgrade its T-90 tank fleet with new components and soft and hard kill systems.
By 2020, India has 2,080 tanks in service.
India's first batch was inducted under a license in August 2009.
In 2012, India purchased 354 new tanks which had taken India's total tank strength to 4,500 tanks, including T-90 variants, T-72, and Arjun MBT.
India planned to have 21 T-90 tank regiments by 2020, with 45 combat tanks and 17 training and replacement tanks per regiment.
