Invar Missiles Bound for India’s T-90 Tanks

The Ministry of Defence of New Delhi has signed a contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for the supply of Invar anti-tank guided missiles to be launched from the 125 mm cannons of the T-90 tanks of the Indian Army.

The contract value is around $230 million; the Invar missile (3 UBK 20) is a weapon designed to allow the T90 tanks to destroy armored vehicles with explosive reactive armor (ERA).

The Invar missile is equipped with a semi-automatic control system, semi-active laser guidance (it needs target illumination) and is immune to interference.

The Invar is equipped with a tandem warhead, the first of which triggers the ERA armor and opens the gap to the second that explodes inside the vehicle once penetrated.

The missile is accredited of the ability to destroy stationary and moving targets at a speed of up to 70 km/h.

The 125 mm diameter missile, to be deployable from the 2A82-1M T-90 cannons, has a length of 695 mm plus the 395 mm long launch charge.

The Invar missile’s range is 5,000 meters and the flight time is 17.6 seconds at maximum distance.

The missile has a weight of 17.2 kg plus the 7.1 kg launch charge; it is credited with a penetration capacity of 700 mm of armor (behind the ERA protection).

Source: Indian Ministry of Defence

Photo credit: Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)