"Armata" as an exhibit
August 2018 introduced two important events in the annals of the development of domestic armored vehicles. Tank T-14 and BMP T-15 on the basis of the Armata platform were exhibited as exhibits at the demonstration site of the Patriot center. At the same time, an agreement was signed on the delivery to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation by the concern "Uralvagonzavod" during 2020 132 vehicles on the platform "Armata" for military tests. Together, these events can be viewed as the completion of a certain stage in the creation of a new generation of armored vehicles in Russia. We will evaluate its results.
From 2015, the first samples of the Armata family of combat vehicles, and in particular, the new T-14 tank, were shown to the public at parades and exhibitions, and the concealment of the real characteristics of the vehicle was combined with a powerful stream of consciously allowed “leaks” in the media.
The optimistic PR-wave that accompanied the development of the Armata platform, and the prospects for mass demand for military products, forced the Uralvagonzavod concern to invest more than 3 billion rubles in the construction of a new mechanical assembly plant in 2016. These works continue even now after the concern’s entry into the larger association “Russian Technologies” and the change of its top management.
Unavailable price
In 2017, it turned out that the price of one serial T-14 tank, according to the manufacturer, exceeds 250 million rubles - which is far beyond acceptable limits.
The state of the Russian economy, along with the complication of the political situation in the world, when the likelihood of military conflicts increased significantly, forced the country's leadership to focus on the modernization of the already existing tank fleet. A program for the release of upgraded T-90M, T-72B3M and even T-80BVM machines has been launched. In the course of the modernization, the technical reserve accumulated during the development of the T-14 tank is rationally used. “Why flood Armed forces if T-72s are in great demand in the markets? The T-14 tank and its sister BMP T-15 will become a kind of“ trump card ”- an asset that can be put into mass production at any time.” - said Deputy Prime Minister Y. Borisov.
In the current situation, the developer of the tank, the Ural design bureau of transport engineering, will be able to make the new machine technically even more advanced, because according to a number of foreign and domestic military experts, today's concept of the T-14 tank contains many controversial decisions. Sooner or later, they will still affect the operation - so you should use the opportunity to think about it, while there is an opportunity.
For example, the expediency of depriving a tank commander of the possibility of visual control of the external situation in a battle is questionable. The use of purely electronic devices, even if they are multi-spectrum and multi-spectral, increases the vulnerability of the machine.
Indistinct situation with the equipment "Armata"
Speaking in the press about equipping the T-14 tank with reconnaissance devices, representatives of instrument-making enterprises, such as the Shvabe holding (optical-electronic target detection and tracking system), the Elektromashina software (laser illumination detection system and air curtains), Catod "(ultraviolet direction finder), TsNIRI (Thermal Imaging Modules) promise to equip the tank in the near future with prospective products of its own production instead of imported ones. Experience shows that this is not so easy and quick to do, given the likely volume of government orders for new tank platforms.
In addition, the managing director of NPO Pribor, Y. Nabokov, spoke about the development of an energy-based "ammunition for the army, striking any enemy optics within a certain radius." In 2016, the Patriot center, mentioned above, in 2016 was represented by the multi-spectral station of optical interference Grach developed by the United Instrument-Making Corporation. Foreign counterparts of the described countermeasures are also known. These facts once again confirm: technical vision is vulnerable, and without it, the T-14 tank, devoid of a visual channel, will be incapable.
Another issue widely discussed in the press was the equipping of a T-14 tank with a 152 mm caliber cannon. On the one hand, a 125 mm caliber 2A-82M1 gun already installed on a tank is considered by many domestic experts as the most powerful existing tank gun, which also has record-breaking rate of fire and wear resistance. On the other hand, they are constantly talking about the possibility of replacing it with a 152 mm 2A83 gun. It can be assumed that the reason for this duality is the doubts about the effectiveness of the 2A-82M1 gun.
Judging by the statements of the developer given in the press, the option of replacing the tool is worked out and decided.
There are a number of such questions, but the above is enough to make a general conclusion.
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The reason for the problems is that the stage of researching the tank layout as a complex combat system, equipped at once with a number of new subsystems, was not carried out in advance. The degree of readiness of each of which remained on the conscience of its supplier. It was necessary to study in advance both the features of the joint functioning of these systems and the new general layout solutions.
The tremendous work done by UKBTM formed the basis for the production of a new generation of combat vehicles on the Armata platform. A number of them - BREM, engineering vehicle, self-propelled artillery howitzer of the type "Coalition" already seem to be fully realizable. In some cases, the T-14 tank, the heavy BMP T-15, it is necessary to refine a number of technical issues. The line of support chosen by the country's leadership for the modernization of existing equipment gives time to solve them.
