On December 12, 1965, India achieved a milestone in its military history when the first indigenous tank ‘Vijayanta’ was delivered to the Indian Army. More details on this significant event can be found here
The Vijayanta was built by the Heavy Vehicles Factory situated in Avadi, near Chennai.
The architectural design was provided by the UK's Vickers Company.
In 1961, the Vickers Company agreed to design a new main battle tank for the Indian Army, named the Vickers Mark I.
As per the agreement, the company committed to creating tank prototypes and 90 units, along with a new production facility at Avadi.
By 1963, two prototypes were completed, and one was sent to India. In 1965, production tanks were manufactured both in the UK and at the Avadi factory.
The model built at Avadi was christened ‘Vijayanta’, which translates to victorious.
The battle tank was based on the British model Chieftain, incorporating the Chieftain’s steering, engine, fire control systems, and transmission.
Initially, UK components were used, but gradually Indian-made components were incorporated until all components were made in India.
The Vijayanta Main Battle Tank (MBT) saw extensive action in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 and Operation Blue Star.
Production ceased in 1986. From 1965 till 1986, 2200 tanks were produced. Bulk production of spare parts ended in 1989.
By 2008, the Vijayanta MBT was phased out from the army.
Throughout its service years, various upgraded versions were manufactured like Vijayanta Mark 1A, Vijayanta Mark 1B, Vijayanta Mark 1C, and Vijayanta Mark 2.
There were also variations of the Vijayanta with tweaks to the original model. For instance, the Catapult SPA, Kartik AVLB, Vijayanta ARV, etc.
The Vijayanta MBT’s specifications included:
Weight: 39000 kg
Length: 9.788 m
Width: 3.168 m
Height: 2.711 m
Crew: 4
Engine: Leyland L60 Diesel; 399 kW
Armour: 80 mm steel
Main armament: 4.13 inch (105mm) gun; 44 rounds
Secondary armaments: 0.3 inch (7.62mm) coaxial machine gun; 0.5 inch (12.7mm) ranging coaxial machine gun; 0.3 inch (7.62mm) machine gun in the commander’s cupola
Also equipped with 6 pairs of smoke grenade launchers