BXIBerniece at 16:48, 1 December 2025

2025-12-01T16:48:22Z

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{{Short description|Indian composite vehicle armour}}
The '''Kanchan armour''' (literally ''gold'' in [[Hindi]]) is the name informally given to a modular [[composite armour]] developed by [[India]]. The armour got its name from [[Kanchanbagh|Kanchan Bagh]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?ftid=0x3bcba29d6e18be0d:0x4581fdc1badae0c0&q=Kanchan+Bagh,+Hyderabad&gl=uk&ei=tgLgS7rKJ4eD_Aaf1bmcCA&sll=17.333092,78.506447&sspn=0.021303,0.032015&ie=UTF8&ll=17.335471,78.501617&spn=0,0&t=h&z=17&iwloc=A|title = Kanchan Bagh · Hyderabad, Telangana, India}}</ref> [[Hyderabad]], [[Telangana]], where the [[Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory]] (DMRL) is located.

Although the construction details of the armour remain a secret, it has been described as being made by [[Sandwich-structured composite|sandwiching composite panels]] between [[rolled homogeneous armour]] (RHA). The number of layers may vary based on the user requirements. This armour is able to defeat [[armour-piercing discarding sabot]] (APDS) and [[high-explosive anti-tank warhead]] (HEAT) rounds and is known to defeat [[armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot]] (APFSDS).<ref name=frontier-armour>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110725073043/http://frontierindia.net/the-kanchan-armor/ Kanchan armor], frontierindia.net</ref>

This armour is lightweight and compact. A new [[honeycomb structure]] design of non-explosive and [[non-energetic reactive armour]] (NERA) is reportedly being tested on Arjun tanks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/arjun-mk-ii.htm|title=Arjun Mark-II}}</ref>

==History==
During development in the 1980s, Kanchan armour defeated a 106 mm [[recoilless rifle]] which was tried on the [[Arjun (tank)|Arjun Tank]]. During trials in 2000, the armour was able to withstand hits from [[T-72 tank]] at point blank range, and defeated all available [[high-explosive squash head]] (HESH) and APFSDS rounds, which included Israeli APFSDS rounds.

The Kanchan was also used on [[Vijayanta]] tanks prior to retirement.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.drdo.gov.in/armour-materials-modules-mbts-and-other-combat-vehicles | title=Armour Materials & Modules: MBTS and Other Combat Vehicles | Defence Research and Development Organisation - DRDO, Ministry of Defence, Government of India }}</ref>

==Protection==
Upon impact of a projectile, the armour will — ideally — prevent penetration via [[compression (physical)|compression]] and decompression methods. As the projectile hits the armour, it faces compression because of the RHA, and then it faces decompression because of the composite. When the projectile passes through several such sandwiched layers, it breaks up those projectiles.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Singh|first1=B. Bhav|last2=Sukumar|first2=G.|last3=Senthil|first3=P. Ponguru|last4=Jena|first4=P. K.|last5=Reddy|first5=P. R. S.|last6=Kumar|first6=K. Siva|last7=Madhu|first7=V.|last8=Reddy|first8=G. M.|date=2017-06-30|title=Future Armour Materials and Technologies for Combat Platforms|url=https://publications.drdo.gov.in/ojs/index.php/dsj/article/view/11468|journal=Defence Science Journal|language=en|volume=67|issue=4|pages=412–419|doi=10.14429/dsj.67.11468|doi-broken-date=18 July 2025 |issn=0976-464X|url-access=subscription|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Composition==
In the 1980s the Kanchan composite had a composition of [[ceramic]], [[aluminium oxide]], [[fibreglass]] and some other such materials mixed. The Kanchan composite tried out had two thicknesses, i.e. a {{convert|350|mm}} plate and a {{convert|315|mm}} plate. However these two plates had the same weight as a {{convert|120|mm}} RHA. Hence it is said that Kanchan armour is more volume at same weight. [[Anti-tank warfare|Anti-tank munition]]s have problems in penetrating such materials.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Balakrishna Bhat|first=T.|title=Composite armour materials and modules|date=2017|others=Vemuri Madhu, Defence Research & Development Organisation|isbn=978-81-86514-90-0|location=New Delhi|oclc=1003193312}}</ref>

Kanchan armour composition has undergone massive changes since the 1980s. The volume of the RHA has been reduced to lesser mass because of better metallurgy. The composite has evolved too and it does not use the 1980s technology any more.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanchan Armour}}
[[Category:Vehicle armour]]

Kanchan armour - Revision history

BXIBerniece at 16:48, 1 December 2025