T-14 ARMATA MBTs DEVELOYED IN THE UKRAINE CONFLICT.

Why aren't T-14 Armata MBTs deployed in the Ukraine conflict, given that they are the best tanks the Russian military has?

In 2015 Putin was throwing a big military parade. You know the ones- where the missiles and troops all goosestep in Moscow to show off Russian military prowess. This was to be the public unveiling (in part) of the new T-14 Armata tank.

As the parade prepared the Armata broke down. The transmission, which is the traditional flaw of Russian tanks, gave out. I don’t think anyone who knew about these tanks was surprised in any way.

Back before all this, China had planned to purchase some T-14 tanks. Russia needed this big contract to fund its own tank modernization program.

However, when China got a field test of the T-14 in Syria it backed out. Publically the Chinese media said that the T-14 had none of the advertised defense systems, that it was unreliable, and that it was hard to crew. Russian tank crews also think this.

The reality is that the T-14 just isn’t a very good tank.

The T-14 began life as failed Russian tank design in the late 90s called the T-95. When Putin came to power he ordered a new modern battle tank and thus the T-95 was rehashed as the T-14 and design began.

The T-14 was designed specifically to combat NATO tanks. Specifically it would have

Modern optics and modern technology matching an Abrams

A large V-12 engine that could propel the 55 (or 58) ton tank 80 km/hr, making it the fastest tank around

A huge 125 mm gun compared to the American 120 mm smoothbore gun. This would give the T-14 a longer firing range and more hardkill potential

Modern Armor meant to combat US guns

The Armata was meant to be a light, fast, deadly tank that could overwhelm US and NATO armor. The entire thing was built around the V12 engine which itself was basically copied from the WW2 Panther engine. This is where problems come up.

Armata – the story is over » Wavell Room

The Russian Armata is over. This article looks at why Russia's latest tank is dead in the water. What do you think?

The V-12 engine is extremely unreliable and guzzles gas

The V-12 engine has a touchy transmission, not great for anyone trying to crew the tank

The tank CANNOT go 80 km/hr. Nobody has ever seen one go faster than 30 MPH

So the engine has issues but so does everything else.

The optics are all outdated French designs from the late 2000s. These optics are a step down from modern civilian models used today.

The crew is in a capsule in the hull- not the turret. So when the tank turns the crew stays in place. This means they have to rely on the optical data the tank is giving them. This would be fine except the software is buggy and the tank crew has to rely on a periscope- something modern tanks did away with decades ago

The systems meant to counter NATO anti-tank weapons don’t work as advertised according to Chinese sources

The T-14 uses an auto-loader, you know, those auto-loaders that are super explosive and that cause the entire turret to go flying off. This auto-loader fires a round every 10 seconds. A US Abrams crew fires in under 5 seconds.

The T-14 lacks armor to save on weight and take pressure off the engine and transmission. It heavily relies on reactive armor which is the armor Russian tanks in Ukraine use right now. Reactive armor is like a grenade. As something approaches it blasts off impacting and destroying the projectile.

This works great but then if there is a second shot, the reactive armor has already been used and the tank is in trouble. The US and everyone else realized this flaw decades ago and so now there are 2 projectiles and reactive armor is less effective.

In the end, there is nothing special or even great about the T-14. It could be fast if the engine ever works, it could have a long firing range if the optics and software don’t crash, and it could be dangerous if Russia can afford them. It’s a lot of “it could be” but very little “it is”. In the end it’s just a slightly more modern tank with a bigger gun- nothing about it is “next-gen”.

Want to know what a sweet modern tank looks like? It looks like this.

This bad boy is the Panther KF51. Unlike the Armata the Panther has some cool and unique things that make it “next-gen”.

It has a 130 mm gun- significantly more powerful than the T-14 and the biggest tank gun around

It has a built-in drone system. The tank launches drones that uplink with the tank providing real-time visual data from all over. The tank can even target enemies outside of its visual range using targeting data from the drone

The tank sports an augmented reality control system making it extremely easy to control and use with minimal training

Of course, it has all the cutting-edge armor and technology currently available

That is all cool “next-gen” stuff. It utilizes cutting-edge technology and powerful weaponry to be a more complete tactical unit in the modern landscape of war.

Even if we ignore all this techno-wizardry there are other next-gen tanks like the Indian Arjun tank that are great. The Arjun does not have a huge gun but it weighs 68 tons and can reach over 70 km/hour reliably which is fantastic for a tank that size. Or we have the American AbramsX which uses a Hybrid engine to cut down on gas, making it easier to supply during sustained combat operations.

What is next-gen about the T-14? What does it have that makes it any different from the T-90 besides a bigger main gun and outdated optical equipment? Also, why hasn’t Russia been able to sell any of these tanks?

This isn’t a political thing. The T-72 is one of the most common tanks on earth, being used everywhere from Iraq to Africa. There are lots of nations that badly want modern tanks that can compete with NATO tanks and yet none of them to want T-14s.

They’ve been happy to purchase thousands of T-90s and T-72s and in fact, many nations still want those tanks despite their age. This should show you all you need to know.

This brings us to reason number 2 of why there aren’t T-14s in Ukraine- there aren’t any. We think that there are maybe 100 T-14s on earth and that’s a big maybe. How many of these are functional is anyone’s guess.

The T-14 is emblematic of all the issues in Russia. It’s a symbolic representation of everything wrong with the Russian military. It’s overly expensive, uses outdated technology, and is unreliable at best. In theory, it could be a great tank, but that’s just in theory- in reality it’s a mess

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