Why tank overhaul matters: Giving India’s T-72 and T-90 fleet a new lease of life I Explained

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Tanks T-72 Trawl during rehearsal for the Republic Day parade at Rajpath in New Delhi on January 17, 2015. Image for the purpose of representation. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The Indian Army’s armoured fleet is set for a boost in maintenance and operational readiness with the creation of a new facility to overhaul T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks (MBTs) at Vehicle Factory, Jabalpur. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh performed the Bhoomi Pujan for the ₹472-crore T-Series Tanks Overhaul Project on August 27, marking another step towards strengthening indigenous capabilities for sustaining the Army’s Russian-origin armoured platforms.

The project, being implemented at Vehicle Factory Jabalpur, a unit of Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL), will have the capacity to overhaul 80 tanks annually. This is significant because the Army requires about 230 tanks to be overhauled every year. The remaining requirement is currently met by Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi, which has an annual overhaul capacity of around 150 tanks.

Tank overhaul is essentially a comprehensive restoration and life-extension process for an MBT that has spent years in operational service. It is considerably more extensive than routine servicing or repair.

The objective is to restore an ageing tank to a near-zero-hour and zero-kilometre state of operational readiness, allowing it to return to frontline service with its major systems inspected, repaired, replaced or revalidated.

The process begins with stripping down the tank and removing its assemblies. Repairable assemblies are dismantled and inspected component by component. Components and assemblies that cannot be economically or technically repaired are replaced with new ones.

Parts with limited shelf lives, including gaskets, seals, rings, bearings, fasteners and washers, are replaced. Major assemblies are then tested before being integrated back into the tank, followed by quality assurance checks.

The overhaul also addresses the physical condition of the tank. Weld defects and worn-out portions of the hull are rectified, while rubber components and metal pipes are replaced or revalidated. Critical systems such as cooling, fuel, lubrication, air induction, exhaust and transmission systems are similarly examined and restored.

In simple terms, overhaul is a process of taking an old but fundamentally usable tank, systematically examining its major components and restoring its combat-worthiness rather than replacing the entire platform.

The T-72 and T-90 form an important part of India’s armoured capability. The Army operates these Russian-origin platforms across different operational environments, making their availability directly linked to combat preparedness.

HVF Avadi has supplied around 4,400 tanks to the Indian Army over four decades, highlighting the role of domestic facilities in sustaining India’s armoured fleet.