The Acquisition Wing of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract worth Rs 1,075 crore with Bharat Electronics (BEL) for the retro-modification of Commander Sight of Battle Tanks-T-90. The retro-modification will be carried out in 957 T-90 tanks of the Indian Army.
Based on the requirement projected by the Indian Army, DRDO and BEL have jointly designed and developed an advanced Mid Wave Thermal Image (MWIR) based sight as a replacement for the existing IC-based sight.
The new retro-modified Commander sight employs a thermal imager capable of detecting the targets at eight km during day and night and a Laser Ranger Finder (LRF) to find the ranges accurately up to five km, thereby enhancing its capability to engage target at longer ranges.
The successful indigenous development of Thermal Imager-based Commander Sight will provide further fillip to indigenous R&D and defence manufacturing.