Author: Hong Photography Kursk
As the Russia-Ukraine war continued, the Russian tank force suffered a heavy blow under the attack of various anti-tank weapons. It was reported that more than 2,000 tanks of various types were destroyed, including the Russian army's very advanced T-90M "breakthrough" main battle tank. However, from the outbreak of the war last year to the present, various Russian standard tanks can be seen on the battlefield, from the advanced T-90M to the old-fashioned T-62, but the world's first fourth-generation main battle tank - the T-14 "Armata" is missing.
According to Russian media reports, the Russian army is currently equipped with only a small amount of this new main battle tank and has delivered it to the Kazan Tank School to train a new generation of tank soldiers. There is also speculation in the Western media that because the T-14 main battle tank has a different operating method and requires a new tank crew to drive it, it is very likely that the Russian army is forming a formation of T-14 tanks and will enter the Russia-Ukraine war soon.
Picture: The Russian army is training tank crews of T-14 main battle tanks.
The T-14 tank is known as the world's first fourth-generation main battle tank.
Compared with M1A2, Leopard 2A6, T-90M and other third-generation main battle tanks , the T-14 "Armata" main battle tank uses an unmanned turret. All three crew members ride on the front of the vehicle body, which is protected by heavy armor. The turret and car body are equipped with new armor, and are also equipped with a radar warning system, which can automatically activate the active defense system to intercept incoming missiles or rockets . At the same time, the tank is also equipped with a new 125mm smoothbore cannon . In the future, it may even be equipped with a 152mm smoothbore cannon, which has the ability to kill all active tanks with one shot. The
T-14 tank was developed by the Ural Transport Machinery Design and Manufacturing Bureau in 2009. Two test vehicles were produced in 2013 and made its first public appearance at the Moscow Red Square military parade on May 9, 2015. The Russian army plans to mass-produce in 2015, and is expected to equip more than 2,300 tanks in 2020, replacing the T-72 tank and T-90 main battle tank that have been in service for many years. However, because the tank is too complex and expensive, the Russian army has not yet been able to mass-produce this era-changing main battle tank, and only a small amount of T-14 equipment has been given to training troops.
Picture: The T-14 "Armata" main battle tank is equipped with an unmanned turret, and three crew members are located at the front of the vehicle.
T-14 is not perfect. Its biggest problem is mechanical reliability, which is a common problem with Russian-made tanks.
T-14 once broke down during a Red Square military parade . Because the tank was too heavy, the armored tractors in active service could not tow it away. This made the Russian army afraid to send the T-14 to Ukraine, because once the tank was destroyed or captured, it was likely that the latest Russian tank technology would be completely exposed to Western technicians.
However, tanks that have not experienced war are unreliable. The Russian army will eventually put the T-14 tank into actual combat. To this end, the tank crews need to be fully trained and equipped with a strong support team to ensure that the tank can operate smoothly on the front line.
According to Western media estimates, the T-14 is unlikely to be sent to the front line and may fight in some areas where the Russian army has an absolute advantage. Moreover, since the number of T-14 tanks is not large, the flavor of technical verification is stronger and is unlikely to directly affect the war situation. At the same time, the current protagonists of the Russo-Ukrainian war are air power and artillery. No matter how strong the tank force is, it cannot directly have an earth-shaking impact on the war situation. The Russian army has not launched the expected flood of armor. These tanks play more of a role in supporting infantry operations.
Therefore, we not only look forward to the actual combat of the T-14 tank, but at the same time we do not have much hope for its effectiveness!
