Russia to receive advanced tanks to replce T-72 and T-90

The T-14 was designed to become a robot but is in need of a brain.

http://rt.com/news/263757-armata-platform-remote-control/

 

The investment in the T-14 is for export...Russia is looking at it as a business decision....with an economy set to shrink in 2015, they would be stupid to spend such a large portion of their GDP on arms without some sort of return on investment.

Russia cannot compete head to head with the United States on military spending...those days are gone. The U.S. economy is 8 times larger.

All the hype surrounding the T-14 is a set up for exporting it to foreign countries.

 

It was the Soviet Union that tried to compete with the US not Russia. Russia & China also get more bang for the buck than western countries & Russia has no real choice but to modernize It's military even without the relentless march of NATO.

 

Abrams Tank Systems - Lessons learned from operation Iraqi Freedom 2003.
http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/US-Field-Manuals/abrams-oif.pdf#prof

One of the lessons was the need to determine before hand how much of a tank to destroy in the event one had to be abandoned. It seems one unit got a bit carried away, the Abrams M1A1 might have been immune to Iraqi shells but not what the US army could throw at it.

 

The largest tank battle in American history, the Battle of Medina Ridge, took place February 27, 1991. The U.S. lost four M1A1 Abrams tanks to enemy fire, one A-10 aircraft and two AH-64 attack helicopters. They were up against Iraqi Republican Guard troops equipped with Soviet T-72s (export models) and anti-aircraft guns. The Iraqis lost 186 tanks and 127 armored vehicles in the four hour battle.

I mention this because obviously the Russians did their homework...the Abrams chobham armor did very well against longer range hits...to knock one out required getting close. The Iraqis used anti-aircraft guns to protect their emplaced armor units against low flying aircraft. The T-14 has what I believe to be the largest cannon on any main battle tank currently fielded, 125mm. The robotic turret also has twin 30mm cannons to protect against low flying ground attack aircraft. the crew is very well protected, in a shell, within a shell, as the turret remains unmanned. I'm not sure how well the T-14 would do up against a Maverick missile however. Mavericks were the weapon of choice for the A-10s during Operation Desert Storm and they proved very effective against armored vehicles/tanks. Over 800 were destroyed by the A-10.

Typically in a modern tank battle, the crew that scores a direct hit first, wins the day...so the T-14 is designed with long distance lethality in mind against other tanks, and it's own anti-aircraft battery to protect against low flying ground attack aircraft.

The Maverick missiles require getting reasonably close to the target before firing...a counter to the T-14 would require a beyond visual range tactic....a PGM dropped at altitude with someone on the ground painting the target with a laser...or possibly another aircraft, a drone, painting the target at a safer distance from those 30mm cannons. I don't think an Apache would do well against the T-14. This requires keeping a safe distance from that deadly turret and that applies to both armor on the ground and low flying aircraft in the air.

 

Interesting that they have change the chassis and got rid of the low profile of the older one. I was thinking Russia could have made a breakthrough with these low profile turret. I now say they were not?

 

I concur.

The Ruskies fooled me.

 

I need to post a retraction. According to a wiki article...it appears to be only one 30mm cannon, however the main gun on the tank can fire an anti-tank/aircraft missile. It will have AESA radar which is much more difficult to jam. I think the Russians have analysed the more recent tank battles and are fielding a main battle tank that is at least on paper....very formidable. This is a significant upgrade from the T-72 and T-90.

Going way back to June, 1941. The Battle of Brody...this was before the Battle of Kursk. Nazi Luftwaffe air superiority was to be a major factor in breaking up the Soviet counter attack. What they needed was a means to fight back agains the onslaught from above. The T-14 chassis can also be used for say an armored mobile anti-aircraft battery to into battle along with the main battle tank.

What impresses me about the T-14 is the anti-aircraft capability and long range of that main gun...it's a multi-role chassis and main battle tank. Russia did their homework.

 

T-15? Kurganets IFV and BMP-2 sizes' comparison


T-15

 

http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/can-this-chinese-tank-beat-russias-t-14-armata/

Lulzworthy read

>superior automation to a tank, in which crew is separated from the combat compartment
>1300 h.p. is now superior to 1500 h.p.
>has superior fire-control systems to a tank with AESA radars