“Russian troops began to use the latest Armata tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions. They have not yet participated in direct offensive actions, ”said a source from the RIA Novosti agency. According to him, since the end of last year, the crew has been undergoing combat coordination at training grounds in one of the Donbass people’s republics.
Revolutionary breakthrough in tank building
The main tank T-14 “Armata” was developed at the Ural Transport Engineering Design Bureau (part of the UVZ). In June 2020, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Denis Manturov, announced that the T-14 Armata was tested in Syria. According to the minister, these tanks were sent to Syria “to take into account all the nuances of combat conditions”.
As before Wrote “socialbites.ca”, T-14 is the latest Russian main tank with an uninhabited turret on it, based on the unified tracked platform of the heavy category (by weight) “Armata”. The T-15 infantry fighting vehicle and the T-16 armored recovery vehicle were created on the same basis.
The T-14 is the world’s first tank with a fundamentally new layout with a crew of three (commander, gunner, driver) in the bow of the hull, in a protected, sealed compartment separate from ammunition and fuel.
Prior to this, all tanks in the world had the so-called “classic” layout, in which the crew was placed in the hull and turret together with ammunition and fuel tanks, which negatively affected their survival on the battlefield.
The T-14 tank was equipped for the first time with a unified on-board information and control system (CICS) for armored vehicles. The key to the new system is the principle of network centrism and open architecture.
The main element of the electronic board is a digital information exchange network that covers all units, assemblies, complexes and subsystems. The network provides a standard interface for connecting subscribers to it. Subscribers are electronic blocks built into functional units, assemblies, complexes and subsystems.
ICS provides real-time information from all sensors, the network contains information about the status of all controls as well as control commands for all drives and actuators. In other words, the network has everything you need to control and manage the tank in digital form. Via CICS, elements of the Unified Tactical Level Control System (ESU TK) are integrated into the machine.
This makes it possible to create a unified information field of reconnaissance and tactical formation, combining various types of troops, for example, in company and battalion tactical groups (BTGr).
In armored personnel carriers equipped with vehicles of the Armata family, combat control loops are significantly reduced, the effectiveness of fire damage increases sharply, and the possibilities for tactical maneuvering increase.
The T-14 tank is the first tank in the world to use “stealth technologies” to reduce visibility across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Also, an active protection complex (KAZ) and a curtain adjustment system (SPZ) are installed on the machine. KAZ “Afganit” is the only one in the world that can effectively deal not only with reactive and rocket anti-tank ammunition, but also with high-velocity armor-piercing sub-caliber projectiles. The air curtain system provides automatic protection to the vehicle from any angle, including the upper hemisphere, from ammunition with any guidance system that blocks the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
The Armata tank is equipped with Malachite dynamic protection of the fourth generation, which with a high probability eliminates or completely eliminates the penetrating effect of cumulative and kinetic ammunition.
The main armor of the tank is combined multi-layered with rational angles of inclination. It uses the most modern and advanced armor materials.
The most protected place of the tank is the crew capsule.
The mobility of the machine is provided by a multi-fuel diesel engine with various modes of boosting power. The undercarriage is designed for high speeds off-road and on public roads. Traffic control, control over the state of the engine and transmission are automated.
The basis of the tank’s firepower is the 125 mm 2A82-1M smoothbore cannon with a new generation of shells and guided missiles in its ammunition load. The fire control system of the tank is completely digital. The gunner operator and tank commander do not have a direct optical channel controlling the guns via digital interfaces. A fully digital ballistic path allows you to automatically take into account and calculate all shooting conditions, as well as automatically track selected targets. Through the ESU TK interface it is possible to perform target assignment to the BTGr network to obtain target assignment from external sources and to hit targets with other firearms.
In a word, the T-14 tank has all the necessary qualities to become one of the best-selling main tanks in the world arms market.
nuances
There are many questions about the T-14 engine. The “Armata” power plant is made on the basis of the 12N360 engine (designations A-85-3A and 2V-12-3A are also known) produced by the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant “ChTZ-Uraltrak”. It is interesting that the engine is several years older than the T-14 universal platform. According to some reports, such an engine was also created for the promising tank “Object 195” (also known as “Black Eagle”), but this project for various reasons did not go beyond testing.
Some experts consider that the A-85-3A engine is not sufficiently completed. Promising power plant for “Armata” should be considered in terms of efficiency, heat transfer, resource, etc. There is an opinion that in terms of it is inferior to modern foreign models. And this does not suit the Russian army.
The turret of the T-14 tank is hung with all kinds of sensors – a weather station, sights, an active phased array, receiving antennas and GLONASS antennas, infrared cameras and numerous other devices that can be easily “destroyed” by explosions and optical 25 mm and 35 mm guns, a potential armored fighting vehicles of the enemy. All this glory of the “Armata” is very vulnerable even from fragments of artillery shells and small arms fire (heavy machine guns).
The tank is simply filled with electronics with imported components. Whether it can maintain its performance even when an armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile ricochets (i.e., a simple hit) is a big question.
The use of the autoloader in “Armata” is also quite controversial. In case of failure, manual reloading is possible with a loss of rate of fire up to 1 round per minute. By the way, a good loader can easily load a tank gun 3-4 rounds per minute. Therefore, a significant number of experts consider the use of autoloaders on promising tanks unnecessary. Western-made tanks do not use this mechanism.
Finally, the T-14 Armata is three times more expensive than the T-90M, and many experts believe that the Armata does not have a significant advantage in performing combat missions compared to Breakthrough.
In July 2018, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said that the T-14 tanks on the Armata platform and the Boomerang armored personnel carrier are very expensive models compared to existing armored weapons.
“Why all Armed Forces “flood” with “Armata” or “Boomerang”? In our country, the T-72 tank is in great demand in the market, everyone buys it. Compared to Abrams, Leclercs and Leopards, it significantly surpasses them in price, efficiency and quality, ”said Yuri Borisov at the time.
American response to “Armata”
As before Wrote “socialbites.ca”The United States is developing a new generation of high-tech tank platform. Senior Pentagon officials say the ongoing modernization of the US military’s main tank, the Abrams, will be the last. Now work is underway on a car concept that will replace it in the 2030s. The new tank will be lighter, will receive universal shells that change their characteristics for a specific task, the most modern sensors and the ability to control drones from the combat compartment, and its systems will be integrated into control networks for network-centric warfare.
The Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) is busy developing concepts for the high-tech tank platforms of the future.
So far, we are talking about the initial stages of creating new tanks – conceptual work and modeling. The first example from the “metal” is still far away, but the US ground forces are already formulating their opinion on the future car.
It is assumed that the new armored combat vehicle will be able to detect and destroy a wider range of targets, including unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with laser weapons and even enemy artillery shells in flight. It should enter the equipment of the US armed forces in the 2030s.
The new tank will, to some extent, be built on the foundation of the previous generation of armored vehicles.
Abrams’ modernization to the M1A2 SEP v4 (M1A2D) level will come in the 2020s, before the emergence of a new main battle tank.
This is a variant of “Abrams” with significantly expanded fire capabilities. The tank will be equipped with various sensors of the latest generation with a significantly increased range: a laser rangefinder, video cameras, meteorological sensors and laser receivers that warn of the possible use of enemy weapons on the tank. The equipment of the vehicles will also be adapted to conduct network-centric warfare, including the transfer of data on the ammunition used.
The 120 mm gun will be equipped with modernized multi-purpose projectiles of the AMP type (Advanced Multi-Purpose, AMP ammunition), which will simultaneously have a contact fuse, a delayed and air-burst possible fuse. explosions for hitting a specific type of target – infantry, armored vehicles or structures – that will allow the operator to choose the most suitable type of explosion without reloading the weapon.
The developers claim that the Abrams, brought to the v4 level, will be a much more advanced tank than the first examples of this combat vehicle, which entered the army a few decades ago. However, the current Abrams platform is unlikely to be updated again. The previous version has already reached a weight of 66.8 tons.