In the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, a large number of Active Russian and Old Tanks were destroyed and injured by Western anti-tank weapons, and everyone can't help but ask, where did Russia's most powerful T-14 Armata super tank go at this moment when an armored knight is most needed? There is no definitive answer to this question, but it is safe to say that this Russian most powerful and modern tank did not participate in military operations in Ukraine.
The T-14 Armata is Russia's new generation of main battle tanks, based on the Armata Universal Combat Platform, originally unveiled in 2015, when the Russian Army initially planned to procure 2,300 T-14s between 2015 and 2020. However, due to the progress of the project and the budget problems of the Russian army, it was postponed to 2025, however, starting in 2021, the Russian army may be in order to promote the arms sales of this tank, suddenly accelerated the pace of production and equipment, the first batch of 100 test batches have begun to be delivered to the Russian Army armored forces.
The T-14 is considered the most powerful of its kind in the world, and it is currently the only fourth-generation main battle tank in the world. Some of its most notable features include remote-controlled turrets, armor far beyond any known production tank, a powerful radar system and a 360-degree camera for high situational awareness, and the new Malachite explosion reactive armor. T-14's 2A82-1M 125 mm smoothbore gun has an unparalleled rate of fire, can fire Vacuum-1 armor-piercing shells, can penetrate 1000 mm armor at a distance of 2 kilometers, T-14 also changed the Russian tank does not pay attention to the comfort of the occupants of the problem, specially designed internal toilets, the crew does not need to leave the tank to worry about the future.
So why the T-14 did not appear on the battlefield of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, in fact, there are no more than three reasons
1. Technical reasons
The T-14 is currently delivered to the Russians in test batches, which means that the tank lacks more detailed testing and may not be technically mature. Although it can also be tested in actual combat, it can only be carried out after grasping the absolute battlefield initiative, and at present, the Russian side does not have the absolute battlefield initiative and does not have the conditions for testing.
2. Economic reasons
It is estimated that each T-14 cost more than $3.7 million, and if it is destroyed on the battlefield, or damaged for other reasons, it is difficult to bear such a loss at the current level of funding of the Russian army, and its opponent, the American-made Javelin anti-tank missile, costs about $175,000, which is one-twentieth of it, not to mention the British NLAW anti-tank missile, a whole set of only about $32,000.
3. Reasons for reputation
The T-14 and other Amata platform products will be the main products of the Russian military in the arms market for the next 10 years or more, if the performance on the Ukrainian battlefield is not good, or even destroyed, then the blow to Russian tanks, and Russian arms sales is fatal, this reputation loss is also unacceptable to Russia.
At present, most of the Russian army into the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield is a relatively old model, such as the T-72B3, which is also a reason why the Ukrainian anti-tank weapons are not enough, how to go in the future war, what weapons the Russian army will invest, this is not conclusive, everything is with the battlefield situation, such as changes in the equipment of the Ukrainian army, adjust at any time, the Russian army is also gradually increasing the investment in some more advanced weapons.