Mihir Paul | New Delhi

On 8 January 2019, state-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) inked a massive contract worth USD110 million to supply the Indian Army with upgraded Konkurs-M ATGMs (Anti-tank Guided Missiles) and launchers. Touted as a ‘stop-gap’ deal to partially meet the Indian Army’s long-pending projected requirement of approximately 68,000 ATGMs and over 2,000 launchers, the procurement comes as a much needed ‘shot-in the arm’ for the Indian Army.

Milan 2T, INVAR(ATGM) & NAG(ATGM) missile models display during Aero India expo

Konkurs-M ATGM is designed to be fired from vehicles, although it can also be fired from the later models of 9M111 launchers. It is an integral part of the BMP-2, BMD-2 and BRDM-2 vehicles (India’s ICV fleet). The missile is stored and carried in a fibreglass container/launch tube. Earlier in 2015, the Indian Army had received approximately 7,000 upgraded Russian 9M113 Konkurs ATGMs.  BDL has been producing Konkurs ATGMs under Russian license at the Bhanur facility. The missiles have now been upgraded with a tandem warhead.

Later towards the end of the month in January 2019, the Indian Army raised a request for approximately 5,000 Milan-2T ATGMs following which, on January 31, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) green-lit the Rs 12,000 crore purchase of Milan-2T ATGMs.

The man-portable MILAN 2T is capable of firing a 115mm tandem high-explosive anti-tank warhead at armoured targets at a distance of up to 2,000 metres. The 2T version, first introduced into service in the early Nineties, is reportedly able to penetrate reactive armour. While the Milan-2Ts are 2nd-generation ATGMs, the