During the 1962 war, India airlifted French-made AMX-13 light tanks aboard Soviet-made An-12 transport planes, and T-72s were sent in 2016. This isn’t the first time that India has deployed tanks to Ladakh. Chinese now appears to be pushing against the demarcation line in response to India building a new highway to sustain its forces in the area. Both nations fought in a brief war over Ladakh in 1962, in which China defeated poorly prepared Indian forces. “This is and has long been Indian doctrine: to threaten a punishing riposte against China - ideally to strengthen India’s hand in disengagement negotiations or in the worst case, to actually try to seize Chinese territory as a bargaining chip to reverse China’s incursions.”Ĭhinese and Indian troops engaged in several mass fistfights in June in the disputed Galwan River valley, resulting in 20 Indian deaths and dozens of Chinese casualties. “They are not there to defend Indian territory, but to threaten Chinese territory,” Tarapore tells me. One the other hand, India’s 1,000 T-90s have superior firepower and armor protection.Īrzan Tarapore, a non-resident fellow at the U.S.-based National Bureau of Asian Research thinktank, believes the Indian T-90s are there as a warning to Beijing that Chinese territory is vulnerable to an Indian counteroffensive. The Type 15’s light weight may enable it to use roads and bridges that the T-90 can’t. India has customized its variant, the T-90S Bhishma, with non-Russian gear such as a French thermal imaging system. While Chinese Type 15s have yet to see combat, Russian T-90s have fought in Syria, with at least one being badly damaged by a U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missile fired by Syrian rebels. Its defensive gear includes Kontakt-5 explosive armor and the Shtora infrared jamming system to stop incoming anti-tank rockets. Its 125-millimeter cannon can fire shells as well as AT-11 anti-tank guided missiles. M1A2 Abrams, Russia’s 45-ton T-90 main battle tank – essentially a modernized Cold War T-72 - is significantly heavier than the Type 15.
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