The Kestrel prototype is actually designed by DRDO and Tata is the manufacturing partner for it. This particular vehicle is an evolution of the Kestrel design with Mahindra as its design partner. There are going to be 2 more designs by L&T and Kalyani which are yet to be unveiled. These will then contest for the Indian Army requirements.
In coming years we are going to see a lot of variants of these base platforms. Some concepts have already been showcased in case of Kestrel like its Light tank variant which was showcased with a 105mm gun turret.
It wasn´t put together by me, made on the base of patents of Arjun´s parts (some of them visible in the drawings) and pictures of the modules such as these:
The standard Arjun has armour that is confirmed to be able to withstand shots from T-72 and early-end merkava APFSDS rounds, though likely the armour has been improved over time, especially with the Mk.1A.
With it be top-of-the-line? I doubt it.
Is it Ariete Bad? Not Really.
Is it competitive? Probably.
Me and the team can only find so much, but from what we’ve found, the Arjun would be at the least similar on playstyle to the 2A4, maybe with slightly worse armor. We’ll use these diagrams to make a better judgement to tell you all later.
Looks like we have a new NAMICA under development. This is named as NAMICA Mk 2 and features a new turret with the 30mm gun and 4 Nag missiles on top of BMP 2 platform. Here is a concept image of it.
Came across some detailed brochure for Abhay IFV detailing the complete technology and specifications of the project. It also details the FSAPDS ammo that was developed for its gun. Do go through it and some keen eyed people can also find a surprise in it.
https://x.com/Kunal_Biswas707/status/1790072622304108864/photo/1
The above post details regarding the possible upgrades that have been done to this variant as well as an upgraded auto-loader with additional armor on top like in T90M. This is only a speculation and not confirmed.
It does use the Bofors 40mm, but that is known since long time.
What I am referring to is a prototype vehicle that was used for testing the Abhay turret with a BMP-2 hull. You can see it on bottom left side. You can see its test video here: https://x.com/Kunal_Biswas707/status/1430031472040189953?lang=en
It can function as a good event vehicle for the Tech tree.
To conclude with new statistics, the tree now officially has a grand total of 126 vehicles, placing it just 2 vehicles behind the American Ground Tech Tree, which currently has 128 vehicles. As for the “Uniqueness” of the tree, the addition of these 5 new vehicles bring the percentage of unique vehicles to 19%, ahead of the Italian TT but again just behind the Swedish TT, them being 18%. We hope to hear more potential additions from you and wish you all the best!
Very interesting tree, as with China the mix of Eastern and Western vehicles progressing into domestic and export designs, is excellent and would make for fun gameplay.
Have you considered the Light Tank Mark VIB (India Pattern) as a Reserve vehicle?
Yes, we’ve considered it, however the thing is that the B variant of the Vickers only has 7.92 machine guns, which are ineffective in tank on tank engagements, and lack the elevation to be spaa, thus weve included the C variant, which has a HMG, similar to the M2A2 in the american TT.
