Military experts and strategic think tanks believe that achieving victory in war ultimately requires a physical ground presence. While drones, missiles, air power and cyber warfare can inflict heavy damage on military assets and infrastructure, they cannot occupy territory, enforce surrender or establish political control. History consistently shows that long-term military and political success requires ground forces.
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Missiles and drones can destroy targets, but they cannot capture and hold territory. Ground forces, supported by armoured vehicles, remain indispensable for achieving decisive military objectives.
The role of tanks in modern warfare has become a subject of intense debate. Critics argue that the proliferation of drones and precision-guided weapons has reduced their battlefield relevance, while supporters maintain that tanks remain indispensable as mobile armoured platforms capable of delivering overwhelming firepower, breaching enemy defences and supporting infantry.
Over the decades, tanks have evolved into highly mobile, heavily armed main battle platforms equipped with advanced protection systems, improved sensors and networked battlefield capabilities.
A senior Indian Army officer said drones can create panic and inflict damage, but they cannot achieve the ultimate objective of war.
“To enforce surrender, a ground invasion of enemy territory is essential. That is what India demonstrated during the 1965 and 1971 wars against Pakistan. Tanks remain critical for such operations,” the officer said.
He added that tanks are also evolving to meet emerging threats through lighter designs, anti-drone protection, electronic warfare jammers and hard-kill active protection systems capable of intercepting incoming missiles and drones.
Lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war
The Russia-Ukraine war has highlighted both the strengths and vulnerabilities of tanks. Numerous battlefield videos have shown tanks being destroyed by inexpensive drones, exposing their susceptibility in an increasingly transparent battlefield dominated by aerial surveillance and precision strikes.
The widespread adoption of drones has transformed modern warfare. They now perform reconnaissance, anti-infantry and anti-tank roles at a fraction of the cost of traditional Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs). Many of the early drones used in the conflict were assembled from commercially available components, making them highly cost-effective.
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Although tanks can no longer spearhead assaults without support, they remain highly effective when employed as part of an integrated combined-arms operation involving infantry, artillery, air defence, electronic warfare and drones. In such formations, tanks continue to provide unmatched mobile firepower, operational flexibility and battlefield shock effect.
Recent conflicts have demonstrated that low-cost drones can impose disproportionate costs on technologically superior militaries.
During the U.S.-Iran conflict, reports indicated that U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense radar sites in West Asia were targeted by inexpensive Shahed-like drones.
India witnessed a similar trend during Operation Sindoor, when Pakistan reportedly employed swarms of low-radar cross-section drones to saturate Indian airspace, overwhelm air defence systems and exhaust expensive interceptor missiles. Cheap drones costing only a few lakh rupees can force defenders to launch interceptors worth several crores of rupees. Even when intercepted, these drones create an unfavourable economic equation for the defender. Modern warfare is increasingly becoming a battle of mathematics, where defenders can lose economically despite winning tactically.
The Zorawar light tank
Recognising the changing character of warfare, India is developing the indigenous Zorawar light tank specifically for operations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
In June this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Larsen & Toubro’s Hazira manufacturing facility in Gujarat, where he reviewed the Zorawar light tank and other indigenous defence systems.
Jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and L&T Defence, the 25-tonne, air-transportable combat vehicle is designed for rapid deployment in high-altitude regions.
The Indian Army now expects to induct the Zorawar between 2028 and 2029. Now-retired Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi recently stated that issues identified during development and testing are being addressed through routine design refinements. The Army plans to induct 354 Zorawar tanks under a programme estimated to cost around ₹17,500 crore.
One of the primary reasons for the revised induction timeline is the Army’s demand for enhanced protection against enemy fire.
Developers face the difficult challenge of improving armour protection while maintaining mobility and an optimal power-to-weight ratio. Achieving both objectives simultaneously is technically demanding and has extended the development cycle.
The Zorawar has been specifically designed for operations along the LAC, where China’s People’s Liberation Army has already deployed Type-15 light tanks. Indian military planners view the platform as critical to narrowing the operational gap and enabling rapid reinforcement of forward positions in mountainous terrain.
India has deployed Russian-origin T-72 and T-90 tanks in Ladakh, but these platforms were originally designed for plains and desert warfare.
The T-72 Ajeya remains the Army’s largest tank fleet, with approximately 2,400-2,500 tanks, many of which are over four decades old. The more capable T-90S Bhishma, numbering more than 1,200, forms the backbone of India’s armoured corps.
India has also inducted 124 Arjun Mk1 tanks, while 118 upgraded Mk1A variants are on order. However, the Arjun’s weight of nearly 67 tonnes has limited its operational utility because of constraints imposed by bridges, culverts and railway transporters.
Until recently, India possessed more than 4,000 medium and heavy tanks but not a single light tank. That absence became a major operational concern after the 2020 India-China border crisis.
Unique challenge
India faces a unique strategic challenge: preparing simultaneously for conventional warfare against Pakistan in the plains and armoured operations against China in the high Himalayas.
The western theatre is ideal for traditional armoured manoeuvre warfare. The northern theatre presents an entirely different environment, characterised by extreme altitude, narrow valleys, weak bridges and steep gradients.
At high altitudes, tank engines lose significant power because of thin air, fuel consumption increases, movement becomes difficult and recovering disabled vehicles is extremely challenging. Without a credible offensive armoured capability in the mountains, Indian planners feared continued vulnerability to incremental Chinese military pressure.
The capability gap had been recognised after the 1987 Sumdorong Chu crisis and again after the 2017 Doklam stand-off. However, the 2020 Ladakh confrontation accelerated the launch of Project Zorawar under an emergency procurement programme. Alongside the Zorawar programme, India is pursuing Project Ranjeet, also known as the Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV). The programme aims to replace ageing T-72 tanks with approximately 1,700-1,800 next-generation main battle tanks over the next decade. Expected to weigh around 55 tonnes, the FRCV will feature a gun larger than 120 mm, advanced explosive reactive armour, underbelly mine protection, integrated anti-drone systems, AI-assisted fire control and network-centric connectivity with UAVs and satellites.
The programme is estimated to cost between ₹57,000 crore and ₹60,000 crore.
‘Tanks are adapting, not disappearing’
Lieutenant General (retd.) Dushyant Singh, director general of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), said no single template applies to every conflict.
“In the India-Pakistan context, territory remains central. Neither side will voluntarily surrender land. Likewise, the Iran-U.S. conflict demonstrates that unless territory is physically occupied, victory remains incomplete. Air strikes and missiles are effective for punitive action and destroying military assets, but controlling land requires boots on the ground. Legacy platforms such as tanks remain relevant despite advances in drones and missiles,” he said.
He noted that Russia has managed to seize and hold territory in Ukraine because it possesses both infantry and armoured formations.
According to him, tanks now require dedicated anti-drone protection and integrated air defence support. Obstacles such as canals and layered defensive lines also complicate armoured operations.
Singh emphasised that future warfare will increasingly rely on integrated multi-domain operations involving the Army, Air Force and Navy, supported by cyber warfare, economic measures and maritime power.
He added that military history demonstrates a continuous cycle of technological innovation and countermeasures.
“Whenever one weapon system appears dominant, countermeasures eventually emerge. Tanks will continue adapting through technological innovation and remain relevant,” Singh said.
Role has changed, not ended
Globally, tanks no longer dominate battlefields in the way they did between the Second World War and the end of the Cold War. Cheap drones have significantly reduced their ability to operate independently. Yet they have not become obsolete.
India is introducing an entirely new class of tanks because its principal armoured challenge lies not on drone-saturated plains but in the high Himalayas, where altitude, mobility and transportability determine operational success.
The Zorawar is designed to address a uniquely Indian strategic requirement that many Western militaries do not face. The tank is no longer the undisputed king of the battlefield. But it remains something even more enduring: an indispensable component of combined-arms warfare.
In a battlefield increasingly dominated by drones, guided missiles and precision weapons capable of destroying multi-million-dollar armoured vehicles within seconds, tanks continue to provide one capability that no drone can replicate: the ability to physically seize, occupy and hold ground. Ultimately, wars are won not only by destroying the enemy but by controlling territory. And for that, boots on the ground, supported by tanks, remain indispensable.
saurabh.trivedi@thehindu.co.in
Edited by Rohit Paniker
