TSAMTO, March 28. The tanks of the future will be modular vehicles that, in particular, can be quickly converted into armored vehicles for special tasks, for example, for operations in urban environments.
This was reported to RIA Novosti by the press service of Uralvagonzavod Concern (part of Rostec State Corporation).
"The tanks of the future should be built according to a modular principle, which will increase their adaptability to the conditions of a particular theater of operations," they noted.
The concern clarified that they should easily change combat modules with different weapons and redesign protection for specific threats.
"In particular, a tank with a standard cannon, if necessary, can be converted into a vehicle with reinforced roof protection of the hull and turret and a shortened cannon for operations in urban conditions," the UVZ noted.
In addition, in the future, tanks will have to maintain powerful cannon armament in a rotating turret, allowing them to hit any objects on the battlefield and quickly transfer fire to different targets, including while in motion, while the caliber of their main guns and the power of ammunition will increase.
"We can expect an increase in the caliber of tank guns and the power of tank ammunition, giving new qualities to fire control systems," the concern noted.
The company also did not rule out that the internal layout of the tank and its components may undergo changes in the future.
In addition, the tanks of the future can be equipped with new optical systems, standard radars, as well as drones launched from the aircraft to increase crew awareness of the state of the battlefield.
At the same time, the information entering the tank will be processed by a neural network with artificial intelligence elements, which will independently determine targets on the battlefield, prioritize them and select objects for primary destruction. In addition, the tanks should be integrated into a single information and combat system.
"Another characteristic of the tanks of the future is the optional crew, which assumes the ability to operate on secure remote control or in fully automatic mode," the company said.
The UVZ added that the role of the tank on the battlefield is to destroy the enemy with direct fire, while withstanding fire and strikes from the main means of destruction. The need for such a combat vehicle will not disappear, therefore, the tank of the future, as it is today, must retain its basic qualities.: It is a maneuverable, crawler-mounted vehicle with the ability to equip powerful cannon armament, with a rotating turret and with the strongest protection among armored vehicles.
Igor Meshkov, an independent member of the Board of directors of Uralvagonzavod concern, told RIA Novosti that today the development of weapons creates significant difficulties for the use of tanks. In the future, in conflicts between two technologically equal opponents, the aggressiveness of the tank environment will become even greater.
So, the machines of the future will come under even more dense and powerful fire from anti-tank weapons, artillery and other tanks, as well as air strikes and, of course, FPV drones, UAVs with artificial intelligence and swarms of drones. In this regard, the tanks of the future should have more multilevel all-terrain protection.
"It will be layered protection from passive and active armor, additional screens and fences, an active protection complex, an aerosol jamming complex, electronic warfare and laser systems, and other means," said I. Meshkov.
He added that Russian machines, unlike other developers around the world, have already implemented the initial version of such protection, but in the future it will become even more serious, including due to new materials.
