The first Armata tanks will be handed over to the Russian army this year. Yesterday, on August 10, the Interfax news agency reported that Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko announced the transfer of 20 combat vehicles to the armed forces by the end of 2021.
"This year, 20 new T-14 Armata tanks will be delivered to the troops. Also, 65 new T-90M "Breakthrough" tanks will be transferred to the armed forces, " Krivoruchko said.
T-14 Armata tank
Image source: arms-expo.ru
Earlier, military officials and representatives of the defense industry called various delivery dates for T-14 tanks, but all of them were not met. In addition, in 2018, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said that the Russian armed forces do not buy a large number of Armata tanks because of their high cost. According to him, the military complex prefers to invest in the modernization of existing military equipment.
The T-14 Armata is the newest Russian main medium tank, the development and production of which is engaged in the state corporation Uralvagonzavod. Work on the creation of a new tank began in 2009, and the first demonstration took place on May 9, 2015 at the Victory Parade in Moscow. In total, 28 units of equipment were planned to be developed on the basis of the Armata tracked platform — earlier it was reported about the work on the creation of self-propelled guns, support vehicles, engineering equipment and T-15 BMP.
100 T-14 tanks were ordered for the Russian army, some of which entered trial operation back in 2016. In total, the Russian Armed Forces expected to receive 2,300 such tanks. In 2015, Uralvagonzavod announced that the cost of a serial T-14 tank would be 250 million rubles.
Key characteristics of the Armata tank
Image source: arms-expo.ru
