The T-14 Armata, hailed as a super tank, was apparently used in combat in the Ukraine war. Whether he will bring Russia to victory at the front is questionable.
MOSCOW — Russia appears to have used its most advanced tank in the Ukraine war for the first time: the T14 Armata tank, often hailed as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new super tank.
As reported by the Russian news agency Tass, citing a source in the Russian defense industry, the Russian Army’s Southern Combat Group is now “actively using the T14 tanks in combat”. “Several vehicles joined the fight to see how the tank would fare. After that, they were withdrawn from the front,” the source is quoted as saying.
Another source told Tass that the tank is in service with units of the Southern Military District of Ukraine. However, it is still in the testing phase: “The necessary tests of the T-14 tank are still ongoing,” it said. Official information from the Kremlin on the use of the T-14 Armata tank is not yet available.
T14 Armata tanks make their debut at Russia’s 2015 military parade
The T-14 is manufactured by the Russian armaments company Uralvagonzavod, a kind of tank manufacturer. As early as April 2023, Russian media reported that its T-14 tanks had been used in Ukraine, but not in direct attacks at the front. So far, there are no photos of the T14 Armata tank in Ukraine.
According to Tass, the tank was presented for the first time in 2015 at the military parade on Victory Day on Red Square in Moscow. According to a report in the magazine, eight years ago it actually worked like a miracle tank Star: “The T-14 Armata was the first of a new generation of main battle tanks, which conceptually outclassed the models from the Cold War era.” The new tank was better protected and armed, its chassis ahead of other models.
T14 Armata tanks in action in Ukraine: the crew sits in an isolated capsule
According to Russian state agency Tass, the “main advantage” of the T-14 tank is that it has a renamed turret. The soldiers would be located in an isolated armored pod in the tank’s hull and remotely control the tank’s weapons, which would “significantly improve the crew’s combat survivability”. It has been said that all tank actions are carried out via sensors and cameras star However, there is also a significant disadvantage: If the electronics malfunction, the soldiers are “deaf, blind and helpless”.
The T-14 Armada tank also seems impressive in other respects: Loud The standard it is lighter and faster than, for example, the German-made Leopard 2 tank. But it is up in the air whether this data is not only correct on paper. The fact that Russia originally wanted to equip a total of 80 percent of Russian tank troops with T-14 Armata by 2020 – which would correspond to around 2,800 tanks – stems from the realm of propaganda.
Russia’s defense industry has problems with the super tank
The Russian armaments industry is obviously lagging behind the idea of the tank: its production is immensely expensive, according to a report by The standard. Western sanctions following the attack on Ukraine made production even more difficult. That is why Russia’s goal of producing T-14 tanks on a large scale has so far failed, they say. “Western intelligence services assume only a handful of T-14 Armata even exist.”
The British Ministry of Defense also came to the same conclusion on January 19, 2023, citing intelligence information: “The program’s 11-year development period was marred by delays, reductions in planned fleet size and reports of manufacturing problems,” the ministry wrote in an update on the Ukraine war.
Since the tank is larger and heavier than other Russian tanks, “adapting its logistics chain to the T-14” is a challenge. “If the T-14 is actually used in Ukraine, it will be for propaganda purposes only,” the UK MoD concluded. Instead, Russia is now apparently sending them last tank from Soviet times in the Ukraine war.
Use of T.14 tanks in Ukraine: Russia’s prestige threatened
Also, according to the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta “mass production” of T14 tanks is not expected due to production issues. The billions of rubles earmarked for the construction of modern workshops for assembling the tanks have already been “spent”.
It is uncertain how many of the super tanks are already in use. “It is safe to assume that about a dozen of them used for military demonstrations in Red Square, as well as some vehicles, were given to specific units for training,” the paper writes.
A resounding effect on the course of the Ukraine war is therefore not to be expected from the supposed super tank. Rather, there is loud star the risk of a significant loss of prestige for Russia. Namely, if Ukraine succeeds in shooting down one of the Russian miracle tanks and the propaganda is gone.
Following reports of mass casualties of Western tanks in the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Putin also recently hailed the Russian T-90M main battle tank, nicknamed “Proryv” (“Breakthrough”), as the world’s leading combat vehicle of its kind. (smu)
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