The T-72 Ajeya is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that has formed the backbone of the Indian Army's armoured corps since the early 1980s. Licence-produced at the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) in Avadi, Tamil Nadu, it remains the most numerous tank type in Indian service even as newer T-90 Bhishma tanks have taken over as the Army's frontline platform, with the Ajeya fleet now the subject of a major life-extension and modernisation effort.

Key facts

  • Type: Second-generation main battle tank
  • Origin: Soviet Union (Uralvagonzavod design); licence-produced in India
  • Manufacturer: Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi (Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited)
  • Weight: approximately 41 tonnes
  • Crew: 3 (commander, gunner, driver), with an automatic loader
  • Main gun: 125mm 2A46 smoothbore gun
  • Engine: V-46/V-84 series diesel engine, originally around 780 horsepower
  • In-service numbers: an estimated 2,400 tanks, the largest single type in the Army's inventory

Development and induction

India acquired its first T-72M tanks from the Soviet Union in the early 1980s and subsequently negotiated licensed production at HVF Avadi, which went on to build the bulk of the fleet domestically over the following two decades under the designation T-72M1. Christened "Ajeya," meaning invincible, the tank replaced older Vijayanta and Centurion tanks in most armoured regiments and, at its peak, made India one of the largest T-72 operators in the world.

Modernisation programme

With much of the fleet now more than three decades old, the Army has opted to retain and upgrade roughly half of its T-72 tanks rather than retire the type outright, extending their service life toward 2040 while the indigenous Future Ready Combat Vehicle is developed as an eventual replacement. A Combat Improved Ajeya (CIA) upgrade package has fitted selected tanks with improved fire-control systems, including a Thermo Imaging Fire Control System developed with Israeli assistance, which had been installed on around 96 tanks by early 2026 after completing firing trials. Separately, a contract signed with Russia's Rosoboronexport in 2025 covers the supply and licensed assembly of around 1,000 replacement engines to address the ageing power packs across the fleet.

Capabilities

The T-72 Ajeya's 125mm smoothbore gun, fed by an automatic loader, fires armour-piercing, high-explosive and other standard 125mm ammunition types, giving crews of three a reasonably high rate of fire for the tank's generation. Upgrade packages have added explosive reactive armour, improved night-fighting sights and, on some tanks, more modern navigation and communication equipment, though the baseline design's armour and fire-control technology remain dated compared with the newer T-90 fleet.

Service

The T-72 Ajeya continues to equip a large share of the Indian Army's armoured regiments across the western, northern and eastern sectors, and remains in frontline use even as it gradually cedes its position as the Army's primary tank to the T-90 Bhishma. Its eventual replacement is expected to come through the phased induction of the Future Ready Combat Vehicle from around 2030, with upgraded T-72s likely to serve alongside newer types for years to come.

The decision to modernise rather than immediately retire the Ajeya fleet reflects both the scale of the investment involved in replacing thousands of tanks and the continued utility of a well-understood, logistically established platform. Regiments operating the upgraded variants benefit from improved night-fighting and target-acquisition capability without the cost and disruption of converting to an entirely new type, while the retained fleet provides the Army with a hedge against delays in the FRCV timeline. Over the coming decade, the balance between older Ajeya regiments, T-90 Bhishma units and the first FRCV formations is expected to define the shape of India's armoured corps.