Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov announced that the serial production of the T-14 Armata tank had been postponed, and mass production will begin in 2022.
“The [tank’s] state trials will come to a close next year. It will actively go into serial production from next year,” the minister said.
Manturov had previously told the Rossiya-1 (Russia One) TV channel in April 2020 that serial deliveries of the T-14 would commence in 2021.
The Russian government has revealed that the tank was shipped to Syria to evaluate the tank under “field conditions” in 2020. However, it is unclear if the tank saw combat.
The Armata is a heavy tracked standardized platform serving as the basis to develop the main battle tank, an infantry fighting vehicle, an armoured personnel carrier and some other armoured vehicles.
The T-14 tank based on the Armata platform was shown to the public for the first time at Red Square’s Victory Day Parade on May 9, 2015. The new combat vehicle features fully digitized equipment, an unmanned turret, and an isolated armoured capsule for the crew.
The chief of Russian state-owned holding conglomerate Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, told Tass last year that though the vehicle is crew operated, most of its functions are “robotized.”
“The Armata crew does not need to aim accurately. It only has to aim the gun roughly. Electronics will do all the rest: it will accurately determine the distance to the target and aim the gun at it,” Rostec chief explained and added, “That is, the vehicle uses artificial intelligence elements that help the crew deliver fire.”
Т-14 «Armat»; the industrial designation “Ob’yekt 148”, Russian: Объект 148) is a next-generation Russian main battle tank based on the Armata Universal Combat Platform—the first series-produced next-generation tank. The Russian Army initially planned to acquire 2,300 T-14s between 2015 and 2020.
The tank was first displayed in public during rehearsals for the 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade. During the 2015 rehearsals, one of the tanks suddenly stopped moving. After attempts to tow it failed, it moved away under its power after about 15 minutes.
