India's 1500 HP Tank Engine To Undergo Critical Cross-Country Mobility Trials

India is poised to embark on a series of critical cross-country mobility trials for its first indigenous Main Battle Tank (MBT) engine. This follows the successful test-firing of a domestically built 1500-horsepower engine on March 20, 2024.

Developed by BEML’s Engine division in Mysuru, the engine marks a major advancement in India’s push for defence technology self-sufficiency.

Next Steps: Proving Grounds​

According to sources familiar with the project, a second-generation version of the engine will be integrated into older Arjun tank prototypes starting in mid-2025.

These tanks will face rigorous tests in diverse and challenging environments, including deserts, mountains, and plains, simulating the full range of potential deployment scenarios for India's MBTs.

Indian Army officials will play an active role in these user trials, ensuring thorough evaluation and feedback. The engine will be tested over a distance of nearly 50,000 kilometers to guarantee its reliability and performance before potential mass production.

Accelerating the Process​

To streamline testing, BEML intends to integrate the new 1500 HP engine into at least two Arjun prototypes.

These trials aim for completion by mid-2026, clearing the path for a potential upgrade of India's existing Arjun MBT fleet with this domestically developed powerplant.

Significance​

The successful development and upcoming trials of this indigenous engine mark a watershed moment in India's drive for self-reliance in the defence sector.

This technology promises to significantly improve India's MBT capabilities, offering greater mobility and operational flexibility in a broad range of strategic environments.

 

[venkat]

Why wait for 1 year to start trials?

 

[Hari Sud]

Sooner the better before the army kills it.

 

[charminar_waale_ismail_bhai]

Do other countries really undertake such lengthy engine trials? Or BEML's is a special case?

 

[NSR]

I hope that India becomes successful in developing and testing this 1500 HP and its derivatives to manufacture its Tanks, IFVs, APCs, WhAPs, etc

It is very important as no country can win war with imported maals only.
Remember German MTU tank engine fiasco.

 

[abhinav srivastava]

Better late than never. Also look into 750 and 1000HP indigenous engines.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

Why wait for 1 year to start trials?

As of now it only exists as a prototype. Probably needs a lot more inhouse testing and refinement.

 

[Ak-91]

Why high altitude terrains? Isn't Army disregarded Arjuns because of how cumbersome they are, according to army "Arjun is suitable for desert only", or are they testing this engine for T series tanks, then T series tanks are best, or T series need another set of trials.
Everything goes to trials, but problem with Indian Armed forces is that, the equipment then remain in trials mode only.

 

[Akshat]

Why high altitude terrains? Isn't Army disregarded Arjuns because of how cumbersome they are, according to army "Arjun is suitable for desert only", or are they testing this engine for T series tanks, then T series tanks are best, or T series need another set of trials.
Everything goes to trials, but problem with Indian Armed forces is that, the equipment then remain in trials mode only.

That isn’t their problem. If the product doesn’t meet the required specifications, how can they clear it? They anyways take the equipment if they can be used for anything at all, even for museums, like Arjun. Or if it can be made to work at many times the original cost, like ATAGS.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

Do other countries really undertake such lengthy engine trials? Or BEML's is a special case?

Difficult to say. Most manufacturers of large displacement engines have decades of experience, they have established production lines, they often build on their previous designs and concepts. So development times are generally shorted. BEML is more of a license producer and assembler of foreign equipment, probably this is the first of its kind project for them.

 

[Siddharth Asthana]

Author forgot to mention trials on Moon and Mars.

These lunatic army folks must be given a piece of mind by the PMO...they are happy to pick up the crmbs thrown by foreign companies but will become picky when its an indigenious option....hopefully this attitude of foreign love affair change in his third term.

 

[k2b2]

Bharat ki bhoomi mai world ki sab tarah ki bhoomi ki khasiyat hai... har tarah ki condition hai agar yaha test huva to world k kisi bhi land par test samjo.

 

[kumar]

Why high altitude terrains? Isn't Army disregarded Arjuns because of how cumbersome they are, according to army "Arjun is suitable for desert only", or are they testing this engine for T series tanks, then T series tanks are best, or T series need another set of trials.
Everything goes to trials, but problem with Indian Armed forces is that, the equipment then remain in trials mode only.

All arjun tank tech has been incorporated into tincans. Obviously, Import army will want this new engine in tincans.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Sooner the better before the army kills it.

Army is used to killing entire programs, i dont think it has hunted an engine before lol.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Author forgot to mention trials on Moon and Mars.

These lunatic army folks must be given a piece of mind by the PMO...they are happy to pick up the crmbs thrown by foreign companies but will become picky when its an indigenious option....hopefully this attitude of foreign love affair change in his third term.

This is one of the reasons why current army chief, general manoj pande was appointed. He comes from the corp of engineers, and he is the first military engineer to hold this position. He was brought in to change the attitude from the very top. I believe change is already visible. IDEX, colabs with universities, support to startups, theaterisation, agniveers etc. You can listen to watch general pande has been saying. He seems to be a very technical man.

 

[sunilanalysis]

Punjab, Rajasthan and Kashmir are sufficient.

Punjab in rainy season , mud conditions mobility trials.
Rajasthan in summer, engine extreme temperature limit trials..
Kashmir for winter mobility, engine trials.

 

[The Presence]

Army is used to killing entire programs, i dont think it has hunted an engine before lol.

Don't worry, they've installed a Black Box so that they can't drive it 1000 Km in reverse & say it broke down during trials

 

[Akshat]

Sooner the better before the army kills it.

First let it work and get alive before anyone kills it.

 

[Akshat]

Author forgot to mention trials on Moon and Mars.

These lunatic army folks must be given a piece of mind by the PMO...they are happy to pick up the crmbs thrown by foreign companies but will become picky when its an indigenious option....hopefully this attitude of foreign love affair change in his third term.

When indigenous options work our army folks spend multiple times the money allocated to get them, even if they don’t meet the specs. Problem is that our DRDO simply can’t make anything on time.

 

[Sandeep]

This is a very important and critical piece of technology that we need to have and we have manufactured and developed it 100% indigenously without having to rely on any foreign parts or help. Developing tank engines is a strategic necessity to have and it costs about 40% of the tank price which shows how valuable it is.

Although it has just recently been developed they will need to test it very vigorously which will still take a few years but it should be ready for the FMBT that we are developing. Until then we should focus on making the engine into a reliable, effective, fuel efficient, powerful and it has a long survival date regardless of the weather conditions it will face.

I also think it would of been better to develop a 1800HP engine instead of a 1500HP because having a more powerful engine will take into account future upgrades, changes and installing other capabilities to counter ATGM, installing a variety of drones or developing a future main gun that shoots much larger rounds than 125mm because future tanks will need the extra fire power to keep a military advantage over your enemy.