16 February 2023

Aero India 2023: BEML to produce trawl assembly for tanks

by Kapil Kajal

A T-72 MBT with trawl assembly, seen here from an Indian Army exercise at Rajasthan in November 2022, has a trawling speed of 4 km/h, tank alignment time of five minutes, and 1,000 m trawling time of 30 minutes. The weight of each roller set, frame, and plough is 2, 1, and 0.5 tonnes, respectively. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)

India's state-run Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has entered into a licence agreement for the transfer of technology (ToT) with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the development and supply of trawl assembly for T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks (MBTs).

BEML has signed an agreement with the Research And Development Establishment Engineers unit of DRDO at the Aero India 2023 show, which is being held in Bangalore from 13 to 17 February.

A BEML official told Janes that the trawl is a mine-breaching equipment attached to the front side of the tank. “Trawl assembly consists of two parts, which are trawl roller and track width mine plough (TWMP). Both the parts can be used together or independently, depending on the requirement,” the official said.

In addition, two units of the electromagnetic device (EMD) are fitted at the front to detonate magnetically influenced mines, the official added.

According to BEML, the trawl roller system consists of a set of three heavy rollers on either side of the tank. To prevent damage to the tank and crew, the roller is mounted in the front of the tank at a distance of 3.5 m.

India's state-run Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has entered into a licence agreement for the tr...

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