![]() The SPRUT weighs 18 tons and mounts a 125 mm smoothbore gun as the main armament. This weapon system is based on the chassis of the BMD 3 Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Russia apart from China had developed the 2S25 SPRUT SD Light Tank in 2005 for equipping its airborne forces. Light tanks have been in service in many armies in the past but there are just a handful of countries at present with these weapon systems. Protection against NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) warfare is a standard fitment in all modern armoured fighting vehicles and is also there in Type 15. It is equipped with a state of the art fire control system, night vision devices including a separate panoramic sight for the crew commander and communication equipment. ![]() The tank is also fitted with add on reactive armour for enhanced protection. In terms of armour protection, the details are not available, but it can be assumed that maximum armour protection in the front portion of the turret would be around 300-400 mm. Its main armament is a 105 mm rifled gun which fires fin-stabilized armour-piercing discarding sabot (FSAPDS) rounds that can penetrate up to 500 mm of rolled homogeneous armour (RHA). The Type 15 tank weighs 33 tons and is powered by a 1000 hp engine to give it a power to weight ratio of 30hp/ton. To understand the issue better, let us first take a quick look at some of the major specifications and capabilities of this tank. Reports of the Chinese Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) having deployed the Type 15 Tank in the Tibetan Plateau has reignited the debate about the utility or otherwise of the Light Tank in modern-day warfare.
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