T-14 Armata MBT

Main Battle Tank - Russia

T 14 Armata main battle tank Russia Russian army defence industry military technology 925 003

Description

The T-14 Armata is a Main Battle Tank (MBT) designed by the Russian Defense Company Uralvagonzavod. The development of the T-14 Armata was launched in 2013, followed by the delivery of the first prototype in 2015. The first reports indicate that the new Armata could be based on the Russian main battle tank T-95 Object 195 and the project tank "Black Eagle" which was presented to the public at the Omsk defense exhibition in 1999. The Armata will have more firepower than the latest generation of main battle tank T-90. The Armata is fitted with a new unmanned remote weapon station turret. Russian experts believe that the appearance of the remotely controlled gun would eventually lead to the development of a fully robotic tank that could be deployed as part of a spearhead in the offensive. The T-14 Armata was unveiled for the first time to the public during the military parade in Moscow for Victory Day, on May 9, 2015. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the first field test of the new MBT T-14 Armata was performed in 2014. The first deliveries of the tank to the Russian Armed Forces were started in 2015. The first T-14 MBTs on the basis of heavy tracked unified Armata platform will be delivered to the 1st guard's tank regiment of the Taman division. According to The Russian Main Command of the Ground Forces, the 1st tank regiment of the Taman division will be the first unit to be rearmed with new-generation Armata T-14. That will happen after 2020 when the new tank passes government acceptance tests and becomes operational. At present, the regiment is armed with T-72B3. In August 2018, deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Land Forces, Lieutenant-General Viktor Lizvinsky announced that Russia’s newest T-14 main battle tank and its electronics will undergo trials in various climatic conditions, including the Arctic climate.  Russian Ministry of Defense has announced in December 2018 that state trials of T-14 Armata MBT will start in 2019.  In April 2020, the Russian MoD announced that the T-14 Armata was used in field conditions in a Middle Eastern country. The Russian government has revealed that its new T-14 Armata main battle tank was shipped to Syria. In December 2020, Russian Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko announced the serial production of the T-14 Armata main battle tank. In November 2021, it was announced that the first T-14 tank could be delivered to the Russian army in 2022. According to information published by the Russian press agency "Sputnik" on December 29, 2021, Russia proposed to India to jointly develop a new main battle tank based on the T-14 Armata platform to respond to the Future Ready Combat Vehicles (FRCV) program of the Indian army. On December 25, 2022, Russian TV presenter and journalist Vladimir Solovyov announced the deployment of the first Russian army T-14 Armata tanks in the Ukrainian Donbas region. During the edition of 2023 of Aero India, defense aerospace in India, Russia announced that its defense industry is ready to share technologies of the T-14 Armata for the joint development of the future Indian Army’s MBT. On April 25, 2023, the Russian press agency RIA announced the deployment of the T-14 Armata in Ukraine. On March 20, 2024, the British Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Russian military has officially brought its latest generation Main Battle Tank, the T-14 Armata, into active service.

T-14 Armata variants:

- T-16 Armata BREM: armored recovery version based on T-14 Armata chassis. The standard turret of the T-14 is removed and replaced by a small remotely operated weapon station armed with a Kord 12.7mm caliber heavy machine gun. A crane is mounted on the right side on the top of the hull which is protected at the front with slat armor.


Technical Data

Armament
The T-14 Armata is equipped with an unmanned turret and all the crew is located at the front of the hull. The new unmanned remote turret of Armata T-14 is equipped with a new generation of 125mm 2A82-1M smoothbore gun with an automatic loader and 32 rounds ready to use. The main gun can fire also a new laser-guided missile with a range from 7 to 12 km. The Russian T-14 tank will be able to fire a new guided missile. It has been included in the ammunition load of the prospective 152mm gun. No modern tank protection can survive the missile hit as it is capable of breaking through the armor which is twice as thick as that of the US Abrams tank. The new missile uses the technologies of Reflex-M 9K119M guided weapons based on modern fire control principles. The complex includes artillery ammunition comprising a guided missile and a thrower to push the missile out of the barrel. It has the size of an ordinary high-explosive fragmentation shell for a 152mm gun. The T-14 Armata carries a total of 45 rounds. According to some Russian sources, the T-14 Armata could be armed in the future with a new 152mm cannon. The first scale model of the Armata unveiled in July 2012 showed that the vehicle has a secondary weapon that could be a 57mm grenade launcher mounted on the left of the turret, and a machine gun 12.7 mm mounted on the right side.  During the victory day parade 2015, Russia unveiled the new Armata and the main armament consists only of a new 125mm gun with no additional weapons on the side of the turret. For the latest model of the T-14 Armata, the secondary armament consists of one 12.7 mm Kord machine gun with 300 rounds and a 7.62 mm Pecheneg PKP or a PKTM machine gun with 1,000 rounds. The T-14 Armata is also equipped with one remote weapon station mounted on the top rear of the turret armed with one 7.62mm mm machine gun.
Design and protection
The Armata T-14 is divided into three compartments, the hull with three crew members at the front, the unmanned remote-controlled turret weapons station in the middle, and the powerpack at the rear. There is three hatches at the front of the hull, with the driver position in the left, the gunner in the middle, and the tank commander at the right. The three-man crew consisting of a driver mechanic, gunner and commander are seated in a special armored capsule, separated by an armored bulkhead from the automatic loader and turret with the externally mounted main armament. The crew compartment will be also isolated from the motor compartment to increase survivability on the battlefield. This design feature makes it possible not only to reduce the silhouette of the MBT and therefore make it less observable on the battlefield, but also considerably enhance crew safety and survivability. The basic protection of the T-14 Armat is based on a new steel armor and metal-ceramic plates to provide protection STANAG 4569 Level 5 (25 mm APDS-T (M791) or TLB 073 at 500 m with 1258 m/s and artillery 155 mm High Explosive at 25 m). The Armata is protected with additional active and passive armor. The front of the tank is covered with reactive armor and the back has slat armor to increase protection against anti-tank RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) attacks. The T-14 Armata is protected with a new ERA (Explosive Reactive Armour). It can be described as an innovative one. Its specifications exceed those of Contact-1, Contact-5, and Relict armor. According to Armata engineers, the new armor's resistance to armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot rounds (APFSDS) was significantly increased in comparison with the older ERA systems. The new ERA can resist to the anti-tank gun shells adopted by the NATO countries, including the state-of-the-art APFSDS DM53 and DM63 developed by Rheinmetall. It also resists to prospective anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) with high-explosive anti-tank warheads. A meteorological mast, satellite communications, GLONASS, datalink, and radio communications antennas are fitted on the roof of the turret.
T 14 Armata main battle tank Russia Russian army defence industry military equipment technology details 925 001Close view of the turret T-14 Armata main battle tank
Mobility
Russian Armata T-14 is motorized with a gas-turbine engine developing 1,500 hp coupled to an 8-speed automatic transmission. There is information that the Armata would also have electric transmission to reduce the weight of the vehicle and increase the use of add-on armor. The suspension consists on each side of seven dual rubber-tired road wheels. The T-14 Armata can run at a maximum road speed of 80 to 90 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 500 km. All Russian tanks have only six road wheels but the suspension of the T-14 Armata on each side consists of seven road wheels with the idler at the front, and drive sprocket at the rear.
Accessories
Standard equipment of Armata T-14 includes probably day and night vision equipment, an NBC system, a front-mounted dozer blade, a fire detection and suppression system, and a battle management system as modern Russian-made main battle tanks. The new Armata also has the latest generation of active protection defensive aids suite. A computerized fire-control system is fitted to enable stationary and moving targets to be engaged with a very high first-round hit probability. The T-14 Armata is equipped with the Active Protection System (APS) Afghanit which seems similar to the Israeli Trophy able to intercept and destroy incoming missiles and rockets. The system is designed to work against all types of anti-tank missiles and rockets, including handheld weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades. The Afghanit APS includes four sets of 12 launch tubes, two at the rear left side of the turret, and one on each rear top side of the turret. At the base of each side of the turret are five large and fixed horizontally arrayed launch tubes covering the 120° frontal arc of the turret. These tubes could launch unguided projectiles with HE warheads to counter incoming anti-tank guided missiles or RPGs (Rocket-Propelled Grenades). The Afghanit APS also includes two types of sensors mounted around the T-14's turret.  The tank is also equipped with the NII Stali Upper Hemisphere Protection Complex, which consists of two steerable cartridges with 12 smaller charges each, and a turret-top VLS with two more similar cartridges, corresponding to the vehicle's soft-kill APS. Additionally, using the AESA radar and anti-aircraft machine gun it is possible to destroy incoming missiles and slow-flying shells. Two large sensors, believed to be electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR)-based laser warning receivers, are angularly mounted on the front of the turret providing 180° coverage, while four smaller sensors (covered but believed to be radars) are mounted around the turret providing 360° coverage. The T-14 Armata is fitted with a computerized fire control that automatically calculates the fire control solution based on - lead angle measurement, bend of the gun measured by the muzzle reference system, and velocity measurement from a wind sensor mounted on the roof of the turret. A dozer blade mounted under the nose of the tank is used for clearing obstacles and preparing fire positions. A 360° panoramic sight mounted at the front of the remote weapon station of the turret allows the commander and gunner to have all-around surveillance on the battlefield without being disturbed by turret motion. For a close view, the T-14 is equipped with wide-angle cameras mounted around a vehicle giving full 360° all-round vision on displays and situational awareness.

Specifications

Armament Armor
One 125mm gun, one 57mm automatic grenade launcher, one 12.7 mm machine gun Protection against small arms and shell splinters. Active protection system and active, passive add-on armor
Country users Weight
Russia 48,000 kg
Designer Country Speed
Russia 80 to 90 km/h maximum road speed
Accessories Range
Infrared night vision, NBC protection system, automatic fire control system, active protection system,fire detection, and suppression system, battle management system 500 km
Crew Dimensions
3 Length: 8.7 m; Width: 3.5 m; Height: 3.3 m

Details View

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