After month-long validation trials in Rajasthan, Indian Army has accepted an upgraded version of the Arjun tank which has better firing capability and mobility compared to its predecessor, The Tribune has reported.

According to the report, the Army completed trials of the tank in December last year. Now the army is looking at 118 of the new version of the tank dubbed as Arjun ‘Mark 1-A’. The previous version of Arjun tank had been inducted into the army and 124 such tanks were ordered.

The production of the Arjun Mark 1-A is likely to begin within this year in the existing facility at Avadi in Tamil Nadu.

As per the report, the new version has a total of 14 upgrades over the existing one, including auto-target tracker, automatic gear system and suspension improvement.

However, the missile firing ability is yet to be validated and will be done once the missiles, being developed by Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), are ready. The missile programme of DRDO has been successful and it is reportedly fine tuning the missile for firing from a tank.

As part of its trials, the tanks have already done around 4,000 km of run. The new version of Arjun tank has a 120 mm rifled gun capable of firing full range of explosives, laser homing anti-tank (LAHAT) missile with tandem warhead, that is capable of defeating all types of modern armour.