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New Delhi, April 29: Amid a raging controversy over the possibility of an internal “sabotage” during the recent trials of indigenously developed main battle tank Arjun, the Centre on Tuesday said all shortcomings in the armament are being removed and there was no question of abandoning the project.

“Whatever shortcomings were there, they are being removed,” Minister of State for Defence Shri M M Pallam Raju told reporters here. He said the government did not have any proposal to abandon the project.

Last week Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh had hinted about the “possibility of sabotage” during winter trials of Arjun tanks that prompted Army chief General Deepak Kapoor and other top officials to rush to the Avadi Tank Factory near Chennai for fresh inspections.

Singh had said that the possibility of sabotage should be examined. He said though the German engines in the tanks were used for over 15 years, it should be examined how they broke down during the winter trials.

Reacting to Singh’s observation, the army had said there was no major snag in the tank and it would go ahead with the induction. “The very fact that we have placed orders for 124 Arjun tanks means that army wants to induct them,” a senior army officer had said.

Commenting on the issue, Defence Minister A K Antony yesterday said army and DRDO would conduct a joint inspection of the tank “very soon”.

Eight years after placing an order for 124 tanks with the ordinance factory board, the army told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence recently that the tanks had “fared very badly”. Army officers told the committee the tanks were miles away from meeting the force’s requirement and there was need for several improvements before they could be declared battle-worthy.

Bureau Report