Indian Army to buy over 3,000 anti-tank guided missiles from France: Report

The Indian Army is reportedly planning to buy more than 3,000 Milan 2T anti-tank guided missiles from France and the deal is likely to be worth over Rs 1,000 crore. According to a report in ANI, the decision has been taken to counter Pakistan Army’s proposal to procure 600 tanks including a batch of T-90 Main Battle Tanks (MBT) from Russia and VT-4 tanks from China. The move will provide more firepower to Army’s infantry units against enemy tank regiments.

"An Army proposal in this regard would come up for discussion at a high-level meeting of the Defence Ministry for buying more than 3,000 of the second-generation Milan 2T ATGMs, which are license-produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited in partnership with a French firm," a person with direct knowledge of the matter in the Defence Ministry told ANI.

According to the report, the Indian Army has a requirement of 70,000 anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) of various types and 850 launchers of different types. They are also planning to go for third-generation ATGMs with a longer range than that of its existing Milan-2T and Konkurs ATGMs.

Sources said the procurement of Milan 2T ATGMs is likely to be an arrangement for the time till the Army gets its home-grown third-generation ATGM, which is undergoing trials.

Earlier, India successfully test-fired Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) Nag in desert conditions. The Nag ATGM has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Director General (Missiles and Strategic Systems) G Satheesh Reddy had said the technologies pertaining to ATGM to engage targets in different conditions have been established with the successful tests.