According to a recent announcement by the Russian Defense Ministry, the T-14 Armata tank cannot be delivered to the ground forces of this country as planned.
The reasons for this delay mainly came from technical problems. It should be clear that, recently appearing information that the developers removed all existing defects on Armata tank engine. In addition, many groundbreaking technical elements of the T-14 Armata tank are still in the completion stage.
The T-14 Armata is the fourth generation main battle tank. It has excellent maneuverability, good armor, and a powerful digitalized fire control system.
Some analysts assessed that, during the war in Syria, Russia brought about 200 new weapons of all kinds to “test fire” including Su-35, Su-57, Ka-52, new infantry fighting vehicles, however no T-14 Armata. This shows that the T-14 Armata is not yet ready for combat.
Many people believe that Russia must produce the first batch of T-14 Armata tanks as a way to show and advertise the military’s strength, as well as for export.
The first shipment is expected to be delivered and deployed to the 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division, stationed on the outskirts of Moscow and partly in the Western Russian Military Region. These are all important bases and are mostly for a promotional nature. Russia wants to emphasize that these “very powerful tanks” will be deployed in key locations.
It is also worth noting that in mid-2018, Russia had halted production of the T-14 Armata. The reason was that “the main battle tank T-72 is good enough and does not necessarily produce the T-14”. Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Yuri Borisov, frankly said on July 29, 2018 that “it is not necessary to have T-14 tanks while the T-72 is still capable of fighting”. This is quite a surprise statement when the T-72 tank line is more than 30 years old, and the upgraded T-72B3 variant is under doubt for its quality when continuously having problems on the field.
According to the Russian Steel Materials Science Research Institute, the T-14 Armata super-tank is made of a special steel that can withstand all weather conditions. According to this source, the main armor of the T-14 Armata tank is made of a new steel, code-named 44S-SV-SH. It is rated extremely durable and resistant to extremely low temperatures even in the Arctic.
