Because of the Chinese Army sturdy record, compared with the Chinese Navy and Chinese Air Force , foreign experts or media generally pay less attention to the Chinese Army's weapons and equipment. Of course, the situation in India is somewhat special. After all, China and India border on land, and China and India still have some disputes over border issues. This has led to many Indian military experts questioning the weapons and equipment of the Chinese Army. Very concerned.
At the end of June, the U.S. Army announced that General Dynamics Land Systems' MPF light tank had won the U.S. Army's light tank order. The U.S. Army will also equip light tanks again since the end of the Cold War . Although the total contract price for the initial 96 MPF light tanks reached US$1.14 billion, the unit price reached an astonishing US$11.87 million. However, Indian military expert Pat Satan believes that if India wants to deal with the Chinese Type 15 "Black Panther" light tanks near the Sino-Indian border, it needs to consider purchasing American MPF light tanks.
Pat Satan believes that for the Indian Army armored forces, fighting in the Sino-Indian border area faces many challenges. The 245-ton T-72 main battle tank and the 46-ton T-90 main battle tank of the Indian Army's armored forces have worrying maneuverability in the plateau environment. They were reduced to action in the face of the Chinese Type 15 "Black Panther" light tank. The clumsy "Iron Turtle". If the Chinese armored forces are willing, they can use a small number of troops to hold back the Indian armored forces, and then a large number of Type 15 "Black Panther" light tanks can penetrate directly into the rear of the Indian army and cut off the Indian army's defense line and logistics supply line. This is very important for the frontline Indian army. It will be a devastating blow.
If the Indian Army is equipped with light tanks that can compete with the Chinese Type 15 "Black Panther" light tanks, then the Indian armored forces will not only be able to ensure the integrity and safety of the front line, but also be able to stay in the rear until the situation on the front line becomes tense. Then quickly deploy to the front line. There is no need to stay on the front line of the Sino-Indian border and suffer the cold like in the past few years.
Indian Army T-72
Although the Indian Ministry of Defense has currently approved the design and development of Indian domestic light tanks by the Indian private sector to cater to the Indian government's "Atmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India) initiative. However, Pat Satan believes that the project time for India’s domestically produced light tanks is uncertain, and he does not know when a real vehicle that meets the requirements will be available. In this case, for the Indian Army, "making is worse than buying."
According to the schedule announced by the U.S. Army, the first batch of 26 MPF light tanks currently ordered by the U.S. Army will be received in December 2023. The U.S. Army's subsequent 408 additional vehicles and the first batch of 96 vehicles are expected to complete most of the deliveries before 2035. For the Indian Army, if it places an order with the United States, it will be able to receive a batch of usable MPF light tanks around 2025 and deploy them to the plateau areas on the Sino-Indian border.
Although the 105mm tank gun used by the MPF light tank may not be able to penetrate China's 99A heavy main battle tank, the MPF light tank equipped with the same fire control equipment as the M1A2 SEPv3 is enough to deal with China's Type 15 "Panther" A light tank, which is enough for the Indian Army.
However, I am currently not optimistic about the MPF light tank. The biggest problem with the MPF light tank at present is that it does not use a dedicated main battle tank armored chassis, but uses an infantry fighting vehicle armored chassis. Therefore, the turret of the MPF light tank, like the infantry fighting vehicle, adopts a rear-mounted arrangement.
As for why it did not specifically design an armored chassis for a main battle tank, but used an infantry fighting vehicle chassis, the explanation given by the United States was that using the infantry fighting vehicle chassis could save costs, but in the end it came up with a cost-effective It is a light tank that is even taller than the 99A main battle tank.
At the same time, the MPF light tank still has a standard 4-man crew. The reason is that the United States does not equip the MPF light tank with an automatic loader, so it has one more loader than the Chinese Type 15 "Panther" light tank. .Moreover, the main task of the XM35 105mm rifled gun it is equipped with is not to fight against the opponent's armored forces, but to provide more abundant fire support for the infantry. It mainly uses M900 fin-stabilized depleted uranium sabot armor-piercing projectiles, M456A2 armor-piercing projectiles, M393A2 high-explosive projectiles and M416 white phosphorus projectiles.
Of course, I personally think that there is no need for India to purchase MPF light tanks. Because the U.S. Army, unlike the Chinese Army, has no urgent need for plateau operations, the MPF light tank did not undergo rigorous plateau testing. The MPF light tank weighs 2-3 tons more than the Chinese "Panther" light tank. Look, it’s still impossible to move freely near the China-India border.
Before the design of the Chinese Army's Type 15 "Panther" light tank was finalized, it was specially brought to the plateau area to undergo rigorous long-distance maneuvers and various other performance tests. It was prepared for long-term deployment and operations in plateau areas. .
In addition, for the Indian Army, the inconsistency of the logistics system is also a big problem. The current main battle tanks of the Indian Army all belong to the Russian line. The logistics support systems of Russian-made tanks and American-made tanks are different. Indian Air Force There have been a lot of problems because of "Made by All Nations". If the Indian Army also follows the example of the Indian Air Force and engages in "Made by All Nations", the pressure on the Indian Army's logistics personnel will increase a lot.
On the whole, it is still relatively unrealistic for the MPF light tank to compete with China's Type 15 "Panther" light tank on plateau terrain. After all, the latter is positioned as a "lightweight main battle tank", while the former is more like a "tank-like infantry fighting vehicle."
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