Continuing the discussion from 如何提交载具建议:
T-14 Armata Main Battle Tank Т- fourteen Армата Танк， Code name: Amata, is a new generation main battle tank developed by Russia in the early 21st century.
This tank is equipped with a brand new 2A82 125mm smoothbore gun, an unmanned turret, a crew of 3 people, and a turret front armor protection area made of “cold resistant” armor. It is equipped with built-in radar and a digital combat command system, which can operate in extreme weather zones.
The T-14 main battle tank produced two test vehicles in 2013, and the first prototype was taken offline in June 2013. This tank was developed by the Ural Transport Machinery Design and Manufacturing Bureau since 2009 and was publicly unveiled on May 9, 2015 at the Red Square Parade in Moscow.
The Russian military plans to mass produce in 2015 and is expected to equip more than 2300 tanks by 2020 to replace the T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks that have been in service for many years.In 2020, the Ural Locomotive Factory assembled a batch of 132 T-14 tanks, heavy infantry tanks T-15, and BREMT-16.
History background
[img]http://
The Soviet Union/Russia has a tradition of developing revolutionary tanks. In the 1940s, the T-34 tank was an excellent medium-sized tank developed by the Soviet Union; Twenty years later, the T-64 main battle tank was introduced and became the tank that determined the world’s tank development trend in the following decades. In the 50 years since the introduction of the T-64, no country in the world tank manufacturing industry has made more outstanding principle innovations. [4]
The original main battle tank of the Russian Army tank unit was the T-90 tank series. Although its latest improved equipment, such as the T-90AM, has introduced many advanced subsystems such as welded turrets, V-92 high-power engines, new thermal imagers, next-generation reactive armor, and second-generation active defense systems, it is essentially still the third-generation main battle tank and retains many traces of the T-72 series tank in its design.
The rumor of the fourth generation tank in Russia has never ceased for nearly two decades, with the earliest being experimental vehicles such as the Obj.640 Black Hawk tank, and later the Obj.195 (also known as the T-95 tank), which has been in a vague state for a long time. Many people believe that the T-95 will become Russia’s fourth generation tank. However, due to the excessive use of technology that is difficult to fully mature, it is difficult to quickly mass produce and form combat effectiveness. Causing the car to be dismounted in 2010.
But Russia almost immediately (or even earlier) decided to develop a basic framework on top of the T-95, but some subsystems were simplified to facilitate the production of equipment models. The engineering code for this plan is unknown, but it has now been named T-14, which clearly pays tribute to several generations of classic Soviet tanks T-34, T-54, and T-64. The tank was first exposed at the Russian Weapons Exhibition held in Lower Tagil, Russia in September 2013, including the improved T-15 heavy infantry tank on its chassis and the “Kurgan-25” infantry tank. [6]
Development process
After the completion of the T-95 tank research work, the Ural Design Bureau, led by designer Andrei Lendovich Terlikov, began the study of the “fleet” armored platform scheme. The first technical proposal was submitted in the spring of 2010. From an external perspective, the T-14 new main battle tank is significantly different from all currently equipped Russian and Western tanks.
The T-14 main battle tank is a breakthrough achievement that conforms to the development laws of tanks. In fact, research on new tanks began as early as the Soviet era, but the so-called “reforms” and subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union made this process quite tortuous.
Part of the research achievements during the Soviet era were retained in Russia, while others were retained in other former Soviet republics. In the subsequent development process of new Russian tanks, some work had to be redone at a higher technological level.
In 2009, Ural R&D and production company in Russia began preliminary research and development work on the “Amata” heavy-duty tracked universal platform.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Daily reported that in 2012, the Russian government officially approved the T-14 tank development project. On November 20, 2013, Russian news agency TASS reported that the Ural vehicle factory responsible for developing the T-14 tank in Russia revealed that the development of the new generation T-14 “Amata” tank will be completed in 2015 and mass production will begin in 2016.
The design and development of the new generation of heavy armored platform for the T-14 main battle tank - the Armata universal combat platform, the term “Armata” comes from the Latin and Old Russian word for “weapon” [12]. Through the Amata Heavy Track Universal Platform, equipped with different systems, it can be derived into tanks, self-propelled artillery, engineering vehicles, air defense platforms, heavy infantry armored tanks, etc., including T-14 main battle tanks, T-15 infantry tanks, BM-2 rocket launchers, 2S35 self-propelled howitzers, T-16 armored maintenance vehicles. [13] [14]
After years of anticipation and continuous twists and turns, the T-14 new tank first appeared in exercises, then appeared at the 2015 Moscow Red Square Parade, and later exhibited at the Lower Targil Equipment Exhibition in 2015. After the public appearance of the T-14 tank, it attracted widespread attention. Experts from various countries around the world have made comments, with some critics believing that the T-14 is a concept vehicle and that the protective ability of Russian tank turrets is average. They rely on their original consciousness to believe that after being hit, ammunition in the Ukrainian T-64 or Russian T-72’s combat chamber explodes, the turret is tilted or blown off, and the crew is killed or burned (sometimes the driver can survive).
The evaluation of any tank armored vehicle should take into account all its combat performance, including protection performance, firepower, mobility performance, and command and control performance. It can also include reliability of use and whether the best balance is achieved between various combat performance. The manufacturing of tanks is not an easy task, let alone in the face of the task of maximizing passenger safety. The designers of the Ural Transport Vehicle Design Bureau in Russia have approached the fundamental solution of improving the survival rate of passengers and the overall survival ability of tanks. [4]
The People’s Liberation Army Daily reported that the Russian army will begin equipping “Amata” tanks in 2016, and the final equipment quantity may reach 2300 vehicles. The cost of each T-14 main battle tank is $8.01 million.
Technical Characteristics
Overall layout
Cabin separation
The revolutionary change of the T-14 main battle tank lies in the use of unmanned remote-controlled turret design for the first time on the main battle tank, with all three members concentrated in the front of the body, presenting a “pin” shaped layout.
From the perspective of improving defense performance, the benefits of using unmanned turrets are twofold: firstly, it is possible to reduce the overall height of the vehicle (although it may not actually decrease significantly); secondly, it increases the armor weight ratio of the turret; thirdly, it is conducive to the centralized arrangement of personnel and improves survivability [6]. The distinctive feature of the new overall layout of the tank is that the vehicle’s functional compartments, ammunition, and fuel are all separated and independent. The advantage of this arrangement is very obvious, as it can significantly reduce the armor protection space of the tank, thereby reducing the mass and external characteristics of the vehicle itself. You should know that adding 1 cubic meter of armor protection space to a tank will result in an increase of 3-5 tons in tank weight.
All members of the tank are arranged in an independent armored sealed compartment, which can provide reliable protection with equal strength in all directions. In the case of being hit and ammunition burning (exploding) in the combat room, the flames and ammunition explosion waves will not harm the crew at the working position, nor will they endanger the separately arranged fuel reserves. Similarly, in the event of a fuel tank fire, it will not endanger the onboard ammunition and passengers. The dedicated armor partition inside the vehicle enhances the structural stiffness of the entire vehicle body and bottom, including enhancing the vehicle’s landmine resistance. This arrangement, due to the ability to replace independent compartments or combat modules of tanks, also increases the potential for tank improvement [4] [10].
Appearance design
The tail compartment of the T-14 tank turret is very small in size and should be designed to balance the weight of the main gun. Its automatic loading machine may be similar to the automatic loading machine of the T-72 main battle tank, which is a disc type mounted under the turret. It is worth noting that the tank’s long perimeter mirror and remote-controlled machine gun tower are combined, which looks quite large, but in reality, the size of the long perimeter mirror is not very large. In contrast, the predecessor of the Amata tank, the 195 Engineering Tank, had a very large photoelectric turret installed on its unmanned turret.
The Amata tank is equipped with smoke grenade launchers that can rotate 360 degrees on both sides of the top of the turret, as well as smoke grenades specifically designed for upward firing. The arrangement of tank crew is that three people are all in the cab at the front of the vehicle, with the commander on the right side, the driver in front on the left side, and the gunner behind the driver. The tank crew is located in a securely enclosed multi-layer armored compartment, separated from the ammunition compartment. The car is fully computerized and only requires two operators. Each person can also deploy the weapon system of the tank. According to reports, the tank’s aiming is achieved through an active phased array antenna and a large number of various sensors [19] [20].
T-14 Main Battle Tank J Structural Section ViewProtective systemExplosive anti armorRussian company Concern Tractor Plants has revealed that the new T-14 “Amata” main battle tank will be equipped with a new generation of explosive reaction armor (ERA [22]), which outperforms existing explosive reaction armor in the world.T-14 main battle tank turretThe T-14 main battle tank is equipped with a new explosive reaction armor with an increased amount of propellant, and the electronic and other equipment installed inside the armor will not be damaged. It can deal with tail fin stabilized armor piercing shells and anti tank shells used by NATO countries, including advanced DM53 and DM63 tail fin stabilized armor piercing shells, as well as ground anti tank missiles equipped with high explosive anti tank warheads, greatly improving the ability to deal with modern anti tank weapons.The tank is equipped with fence armor located at the rear of the vehicle, also developed by NII STALI, a steel research institute, which can withstand 50-60% of extended range grenades.
The tank is also equipped with a new type of explosive reaction armor, including a metal ceramic layer, which has been mass-produced by NEVZ Ceramics based in Novosibirsk (testing was completed earlier this year). Metal/ceramic armor has a protection capability 1.5 times higher than all metal armor and is installed on T-14 tanks as well as T-15, “Kugant-25” and “boomerang” tanks [21].T-14 Main Battle Tank Overall LayoutThe first generation of explosive reaction armor in Russia was the Contact 1 developed in the early 1980s and installed on the T-72B main battle tank. Modern tanks such as T-72B3, T-80UE-1, and T-90 are equipped with “Contact” -5 (Kontakt-5 ERA [22]) or “Fossil” explosive reaction armor; However, some key areas are not equipped, such as the top and driver’s cabin cover, which are susceptible to attacks from tail stabilized armor piercing and armor piercing rounds [23].
Active DefenseThe T-14 Amata tank is equipped with a fully automatic loading unmanned turret, with three members of the vehicle (commander, driver, gunner) sitting side by side in a specially reinforced armored protection zone in front of the turret [24]. The T-14 main battle tank adopts an unmanned turret, which has a very small receiving surface. Due to personnel not being inside the turret, the turret’s rotational speed and resistance to impact can exceed the limits of manned turret tanks, which is a significant improvement for the T series tanks.Appearance of T-14 main battle tank turretThe tank’s active defense system is equipped with at least five launchers at the connection between the turret and the body, which can launch ammunition to intercept incoming armor piercing shells, greatly improving its active defense capability.
In addition, around the turret, there is an active millimeter wave radar that can detect various targets attacking the tank. With this warning capability, the tank’s defense ability against various weapons and equipment is greatly enhanced.At the same time, smoke launchers are equipped with unique features. Two sets of smoke launchers that can be fired 360 degrees can be observed on the turret. This type of launcher not only fires smoke, but also has dual functions of firing smoke and killing, which can densely kill infantry at close range. In addition, it is also equipped with a vertically upward smoke screen launcher, which can provide strict protection to the tank body within a 360 degree range. Whether it is an unmanned attack aircraft or other long-range anti tank weapons, it will be difficult to accurately locate, track, and attack this tank [1] [25].
Russia has also developed the “Xiashi” active protection system specifically for T-14 main battle tanks and T-15 infantry tanks. The “Xiashi” system has the ability to intercept anti tank missiles, rockets, and depleted uranium armor piercing shells, making it the “nemesis” of anti armor weapons.dynamic systemThe T-14 main battle tank is equipped with an X-type engine with multiple fuels, and the engine power is higher than that of Russian active tanks. Its power reaches at least 1102.5 kilowatts (1500 horsepower), which can offset the impact of increased tank weight compared to previous Russian tanks. The Ural Locomotive and Rolling Stock Manufacturing Joint Venture Company stated that the power of the new Russian “fleet” tank engine is planned to reach 1323 kilowatts (1800 horsepower).
"The engine of this type has been successfully developed, and the details of the new product are still confidential. It can only be said that the refinement of the engine is still ongoing, and the developers have promised that its power will reach 1323 kilowatts."T-14 main battle tank engineIn order to improve the mobility of the T-14 tank and other vehicles based on the fleet, the T-14 tank adopts an automatic steering (reversible) gearbox. This transmission has 8 forward gears and 8 reverse gears. Due to the adoption of a new gearbox, the new tank armored vehicles can travel forward or backward at the same speed. In these situations, this capability can greatly improve the efficiency of the vehicle and enhance its survivability in combat [15].T-14 Tank X-Type A-85-3 Diesel EngineThere are also reports that the T-14 “Amata” tank is equipped with a newly developed X-type 12 cylinder diesel turbocharged engine, which can reach a power of 1500 horsepower. However, to prevent overheating, the power is limited to 1200 horsepower [27]. This X-12 series A-85-3A engine is a 4-cylinder, horizontally opposed engine, twin turbocharged, intercooled, four stroke, multi fuel, diesel.
Net weight 1550 kilograms, rated output 1500 horsepower (2000 rpm), unit power 1.0 kg/horsepower, fuel consumption 217 grams/kWh. The cylinder diameter is 150 millimeters, the stroke is 160 millimeters, and the displacement is 33.9 liters. The engine can adjust its output power to 1200 horsepower or boost it to 2200 horsepower without changing its structure.weapon systemThe T-14 main battle tank is equipped with a remote-controlled unmanned turret, which is equipped with a brand new 125mm 2A82-1M smoothbore gun [19] [20]. The weapon system of this tank is basically arranged inside the combat module, and some independent systems are arranged in the crew module or cab. The automatic fire control system is arranged in a manned cabin. And weapons, ammunition, turrets, and artillery aiming power drive devices, as well as commander and gunner observation systems, all of these devices are moved outside manned cabins.T-14 main battle tankThe main weapon of the T-14 tank is the 2A82-1M smoothbore gun, which has a 125mm chrome plated interior and no smoking device.
This gun can fire all existing 125mm shells (including missiles), as well as new types of shells specifically designed for this gun. The Russian side claims that the technical performance of the 2A82 artillery (accuracy, impact dispersion, initial velocity of the projectile, and ammunition power) exceeds all tank guns in the world by 20-25%. In terms of muzzle energy, the 2A82 almost surpasses the “Leopard” 2A6 (“Leopard” 2A7+) tank artillery, which is the best Western artillery by 20%. Due to the fact that the length of the 2A82 gun barrel exceeds that of the 2A46M gun barrel (which is 52 times the caliber), it can be inferred that the length of the new tank barrel is the same as that of Rheinmetall’s new gun, which is 55 times the caliber [29].
T-14 Tank 2A82 Main Gun Barrel Length Comparison Line ChartThe ammunition base of T-14 tank artillery is 45 rounds, of which 22 rounds are standby rounds arranged in the automatic loading machine. This has 10 more rounds of ammunition than other modern tanks in the world. According to the developers, the automatic loading machine can ensure that the firing rate remains unchanged during the entire combat process when shooting in place or on the move, with a firing rate of up to 12 rounds per minute. In this indicator, France’s Leclerc tank is closer to the T-14 tank than all other tank models, and the automatic loading machine equipped on the Leclerc tank can ensure a firing rate of 10 rounds per minute. As for tanks that are manually loaded, their maximum firing rate can reach 5-6 rounds in the first minute (depending on the experience of the loader and the structural characteristics of the tank), and then the firing rate will decrease to 3-4 rounds per minute and continue to decrease due to the fatigue of the loader.
T-14 main battle tank crew compartment sectional viewTo enhance the combat effectiveness of the 2A82 artillery, Russia has developed various new types of ammunition, including a “vacuum” tail fin stabilized sub caliber armor piercing projectile with a core length no shorter than that of Western produced sub caliber armor piercing projectiles, a 3VOF128 “close fitting shirt” lethal explosive projectile that can be remotely detonated in flight orbit, and a 3UBK21 “sprinter” missile. The new ammunition has successfully passed the Russian national test and has been equipped in the military.catalogueBroadcasttwoTA saidshareeditstay.
At the beginning, the 2A82 artillery was developed to improve the T-90 tank. Russia chose this artillery for the T-14 tank because installing a 152mm caliber gun would reduce the ammunition base carried by one-third to half. Moreover, the crew of the tank equipped with 125mm 2A82 artillery has been able to successfully complete all the combat missions it faces so far. In the future, if other tasks arise, 152mm caliber artillery can be installed. Russia’s 152mm artillery has passed the test and is ready for mass production.The T-14 main battle tank abandoned the 125mm 2A46 series smoothbore gun, which had been used by Russian tanks for half a century, and instead was equipped with a newly designed 125mm 2A82 smoothbore gun. During the development process, in the autumn of 2006, the Russian military had three sample guns fire 787, 613, and 554 rounds respectively at the artillery development unit. Tests have shown that the muzzle kinetic energy of the new 2A82 smoothbore gun is 17% higher than that of the Rh-120L55 gun used in tanks such as the Leopard 2A6, while the barrel is 60 centimeters shorter [17] [30-33].
The turret of the tank is also equipped with a 30mm caliber gun to strike various targets, including low altitude flying targets such as attack planes and helicopters. The 12.7mm heavy machine gun equipped on the turret can strike incoming shells, such as anti tank missiles, as well as shell fragments with speeds close to 3000 meters per second.Interior view of T-14 main battle tank compartmentFire control electronicsThe automated fire control system of the T-14 main battle tank includes a complete set of observation equipment for the commander and gunner, a 360 degree local situational awareness system, onboard computers, weapon stabilizers, machine gun control devices, and a complete set of automatic shooting environment sensors including meteorological sensors and barrel bending calculation devices. The characteristics of the new tank fire control system have not yet been disclosed to the world, but its fire control system surpasses all previous Russian fire control products in terms of performance. According to the footage from Russian television programs, tank crew members can use interactive LCD monitors to observe the battlefield, detect targets, and mobilize artillery to aim at targets. At the same time, the tank fire control system also includes an automatic target tracking machine [4] [34].
Instrument panel inside T-14 main battle tank compartmentperformance data T-14 Main Battle Tank Reference Data:Basic parametersVehicle length8.7 meters [35]The total length of the tank10.8 meters (including forward facing main gun) [35]Car width3.6 meters [35]expand allService dynamicsThe T-14 main battle tank made its public debut on May 9, 2015 at a military parade in Russia to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Patriotic War, with plans to replace the T-72B3 and T-90 tanks. The first T-14 Amata main battle tank was equipped with the 1st Guard Tank Regiment of the 2nd Guard Tamanskaya Motorized Infantry Division.T-14 main battle tankOn May 9, 2017, participated in the 72nd anniversary parade of the victory of the Patriotic War. On July 4th, TASS reported that the T-14 “Amata” tank is ready for mass production and can withstand any publicly available anti tank weapon strike. On August 29th, Army Recognized reported that during the “Military 2017” International Military Technology Forum, Russia announced that it would deliver 100 T-14 “Amata” main battle tanks to the Russian armed forces before 2020. At this forum, Russia signed 23 contracts worth approximately 2.8 billion US dollars.On May 9, 2018, participated in the 73rd anniversary parade of the victory of the Patriotic War. [48]On May 9, 2019, participated in the 74th anniversary parade of the victory of the Patriotic War. [49]
In 2020, T-14 tanks participated in combat with opposition forces in Providence, Latakia Province, Syria. On June 24th, participated in the 75th anniversary parade of the victory of the Patriotic War. [46] [47]On November 22, 2021, the US Defense Blog website reported that Russia’s latest main battle tank, the T-14 Amata, entered mass production later than originally planned. Due to technical barriers, the delivery of the mass-produced Amata tank may be delayed until 2024. The source said, "During the testing period, the tank exposed some defects related to the fire control system, which will require a lot of time to fine tune and test electronic components."In 2023, the Russian armed forces began using T-14 tanks in the Ukrainian Special Military Action Zone, which were used to shell Ukrainian military positions but have not yet participated in direct attack operations. [44]
Overall evaluationThe T-14 main battle tank, although very advanced, some military experts believe that its performance improvement is limited compared to the third generation tank, making it difficult to meet the requirements of the fourth generation tank or become the standard of the fourth generation tank.T-14 main battle tankIn addition, some experts believe that it is reasonable for the Russian T-14 main battle tank, as a new generation tank, to prioritize the safety of its crew. The Amata tank, which adopts a crew compartment design and an unmanned turret battle room, has made a qualitative leap in crew safety compared to the T-90 tank, and it is not an exaggeration to call it Russia’s fourth generation tank.Some Russian experts believe that the T-14 tank has determined the development trend of the world tank manufacturing industry in the next 30-40 years, just like the Soviet Union’s T-34 and T-64 tanks decades ago. Shortly thereafter, the “fleet” will serve in the Russian army and corps. [4] [41]