New Russian Main Battle Tank to Ukraine
Russian T-14 Armata MBT
The T-14 Armata main battle tanks (MBT) debuted during the May Day 2015 Victory Parade in Moscow. “Armata” is Hellenic for “weapon” and is an old Russian term for 14th century guns.
Russian Lieutenant-General Yuri Kovalenko stated that the Armata combat platform utilized many features of the T-95 tank, with improvements. In the Armata the ammunition compartment is separate from the crew increasing operational safety. The upgrades also include a more powerful engine and improved armor, main gun and autoloader.
The Armata is ready for Prime Time.
Russia’s new T-14 Armata battle tank debuts in Ukraine: Report
The T-14 has an unmanned turret, and its crews remotely control the armaments, but Western intel says it has problems.
Russia has begun using its new T-14 Armata battle tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions “but they have not yet participated in direct assault operations”, the RIA state news agency reports.
The tanks have been fitted with extra protection on their flanks, and crews have undergone “combat coordination” at training grounds in Ukraine, RIA on Tuesday quoted an unnamed source close to the matter as saying.
The T-14 tank has an unmanned turret, and its crews remotely control the armaments from “an isolated armoured capsule located in the front of the hull”, RIA reported.
The tanks have a maximum speed on the highway of 80 kilometres per hour (50mph), the agency said.
In January, British military intelligence reported Russian forces in Ukraine were reluctant to accept the first tranche of the tanks because of their “poor condition”.
It also said any deployment of the T-14 would likely be “a high-risk decision” for Russia and one taken primarily for propaganda purposes.
“Production is probably only in the low tens while commanders are unlikely to trust the vehicle in combat,” the British military said. “Eleven years in development, the programme has been dogged with delays, reduction in planned fleet size, and reports of manufacturing problems.”
Once labeled by a senior British army official as “the most revolutionary tank in a decade” Russian troops in the field are hesitant to accept it.
Work on the Armata project began in 2010, when the Russian Ministry of Defence terminated work on the T-95 MBT program. The new MBT project was intended as a technological leap from Soviet-era military hardware designs.
In the years since it was announced, the T-14 “has been dogged with delays, reduction in planned fleet size, and reports of manufacturing problems,” the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense said.
It’s a bigger, heavier tank than many alternatives, and the T-14 poses logistical issues. It is unlikely that any T-14 Armatas making their way to Ukraine “will have met the usual standards for new equipment to be deemed operational” the ministry added.
Very pretty, Comrade. Very pretty. But can they fight?
In plain English, it hasn’t proven itself yet. It can’t prove itself until it performs in combat or very severe training. So far it has only been a parade ornament and has little infrastructure for repair and support so combat commanders are properly resistant to being the guinea pigs.
There are also damn few of them.
It does go against the old Russian doctrine of build it simple, build it sturdy and build a lot of them. The puppy is complex and conscripts aren’t the best folks to keep them running. Especially if they don’t want to be there at all. Hell the Russians already have a big rep for abandoning older proven tanks in Ukraine.
It will be interesting, to say the least, seeing how this tank performs in combat. If Russia is smart (maybe a stretch of the imagination), they’ll have only “elite” crews (read: specially trained volunteers) manning these. Wait, it’s 2023, maybe they’ll woman these…
I’m curious as to the exact strategy Putin and his military leaders are exercising. I can see Russia using its older tanks to diminish Ukrainian anti-armor capabilities previously in hopes of deploying the T-14 as a game-changer. Otherwise, if the tank is that problematic, that may very well be the reason they are just now being put into the fight.
I don’t know, I’m just a retired Infantry guy who rode on an Abrams turret once and is ignorant about day-to-day events halfway across the world.
Add to that the fact that with only 1 year of service the troops are not going to know how to use it.
Over budget, over weight, over hyped – well, at least they’ve learned our defense project manufacturing.
Wouldn’t survive a few 155mm Davey Crockett’s, but what a Cloud or Clouds to behold!
Well at least the turret is completely automated. No more arms being loaded into the breech…so they’ve got that going for them
Does it come with a PTO and 3-point hitch? How big a plow can it pull?
Braden winch…big one.
Save a few for the Abrams.
The T90 wasn’t really working out.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/russia-just-lots-its-most-advanced-operational-tank-in-ukraine
Wiki has what appears to be a good write up on the tank: T-14 Armata – Wikipedia. Would be interested if anyone can tell me how this compares to our Abrams tanks for fire power/distance and other pertinent facts.
“The tanks have a maximum speed on the highway of 80 kilometres per hour (50mph), the agency said”
I would really, really like to see that.
It’s not the straights so much as trailing some brake when hitting the apex in the curves.
Tanks Ed.
They should teach how to “heel and toe”.
Folks got paid to do that.
That is so totally cool.
That works for sports cars on a track event as well.
Me, too. I can believe it on a nice, smoothly paved test track, assuming nothing breaks, but on real terrain? It is to laugh.
“Their new tanks (targets) came at us in the same old way…and we blew them to Hell…in the same old way.”
Can a standard farm tractor pull a T-14, or do they need to rig a pair in tandem?
A 7R should tow it with no issues.
Odds on it being the same as the AK12 where it started out on paper as a good idea and ended with a rail on a loose dust cover for optics?
It took years for the M1 to out gun the M60A3 before the crews were proficient with the system. It’s a process. But once they did well there’s a reason we don’t field the old dinosaurs anymore.
To be fair, the M60A3 TTS was far better than the M1 sight.
At this rate, the Russians will soon be deploying IS-2 tanks.
Other news, Brett Baier on Fox News reported the terrorist who set off the bomb at Abbey gate in A’stan was killed by the Taliban.
Meh, the same T-14 that had to be TOWED from a Military parade in Moscow because it broke down there?
This one? Even Newsweak ran a picture of the broken-down “new” tank.
https://www.newsweek.com/russias-hot-new-tank-breaks-down-during-victory-day-rehearsals-329540
Maybe it’s just a crappy photo. But that thing looks like a cheap OPFOR set of fiberglass on something else.