India has unveiled a new ultra-lightweight main battle tank that is expected to equip armored forces in the country's mountainous north, complementing its more widely deployed T-72s and T-90s. Skirmishes with Chinese troops in the summer of 2020 highlighted the severe limitations Army armored forces face when operating in mountainous areas. The 25-ton tank will be one of the lightest tanks in the world, comparable to the Chinese Type 15 tank that entered service in the late 2010s. The tank class is named after 19th-century General Zorawar Singh, who led military operations in the mountainous areas of Ladakh and western Tibet, indicating its intended area of deployment. Currently, 59 vehicles have been ordered, with plans to order more than 200 more, which are expected to be put into service in 2027.
India's lack of tank design experience has raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the Zorava, with the country's previous Arjun tank widely considered a complete failure. It is speculated that India's plan has strong support from Russia, which has previously expressed support for meeting India's requirements for light tanks suitable for mountain warfare. While the Zorava is not expected to match the capabilities of the Type 15, a more capable next-generation Chinese light tank is currently under development and is expected to enter service before 2030, likely around the same time as the new Indian vehicle . A Chinese tank-class prototype has been discovered. The new Chinese vehicle will be equipped with two people – a first of its kind globally – and use a range of new automation and sensor technologies not yet seen elsewhere. Although the Sino-Indian border security priority for Beijing is much lower than that for Delhi, the huge differences between China and India's technological fields and industrial bases still severely limit the latter's ability to reach parity militarily. Still, relations between the two neighbors remain relatively friendly, with both sides taking important steps to peacefully resolve the dispute.