Russia's Got Problems

It was supposed to be the most formidable battle tank the west would encounter in years. The famed Armata program, the basis for Russia’s future battle tanks such as the T-14, has hit a significant road bump so big that the entire program may be canceled. Instead of continuing with the advancement of the program, Russia is opting to upgrade its old tanks. Russia has been making several power plays in the last several years and the growth of their influence in places such as Crimea and Syria has left many wondering if Russia is on the fast track to challenge the United States and China as a superpower once again. This misstep in their weapons development program shows the world that Russia, just like every other country, is capable of mistakes and overreaching aims in weapons development. The T-14 was supposed to be a total game changer in the realm of main battle tanks, making many military experts in the U.S. question whether the Abrams would be enough of a match for Russia’s newest armor. The major change in the T-14 was the idea of crew survivability. Russian tanks have not usually opted for high crew survivability, but rather on easy to mass produce and overwhelming numbers winning the day. However, given Russia’s declining demographics and military force, they decided to go with an unmanned turret. The new technology appears to be too much though as Russian defense officials seem unimpressed with the speed at which the Armata program is developing and producing the T-14 tanks.

The T-90 and T-80 series tanks are slated instead to get major upgrades in regards to their reactive armor and targeting systems that were originally slated to go towards the T-14 series tanks. Russia is even reaching as far back as the T-72 series giving it some serious 21st-century upgrades as well in order to compensate for the shortfall coming from the Armata program. While the upgrades to the T-80 and T-90 tanks certainly need to be taken seriously as those tanks have proven their metal, it is noted that they are not nearly as formidable as the current version of the Abrams tank. In a one vs. one battle, it is still said that the T-14 would fight to an almost draw with the U.S. tank and it generally depended upon who saw the other first. The advantage goes to the Abrams as the T-14 would ultimately have to rely entirely on sensors and we all know how well electronics work when you absolutely need them to work (they don’t work, that’s the joke). Russia’s next gen super tank, which was scrapped, was going to nearly be on par with our current generation tank. No need to worry about Russia changing the armor game anytime soon folks. They’re still years behind us.