Russia’s Latest Armata T-14 Tank Unveiled Ahead Of World War II Victory Parade

Russia has unveiled its new-generation “Armata T-14” battle tank ahead of the country’s World War II Victory Day celebrations scheduled for May 9, the BBC reported. The tank is among several new weapons to be featured in the parade, which will mark the former Soviet Union’s 1945 victory over the Nazi Germany.

The Armata T-14 tank, which had recently appeared in a leaked video, is equipped with an unmanned turret and 125mm cannon, which is capable of firing both guided missiles and shells. The tank can accommodate a two-man crew with better protection than existing Russian tanks as the crew will be inside a shatterproof chamber, away from the main gun, the BBC reported, citing local media.

“New communications equipment allows the vehicles' crews to see the whole tactical situation in real time and communicate with command points and other military units within a single system of automated combat control,” a representative of state corporation Rostec told Russia's RT news.

The new electronic equipments will help the tank become part of a wider network, which also includes drones, electronic countermeasure systems and targeting devices. Developers of the Armata T-14 also reportedly said that after a target is detected, the tank will take less than a minute to transfer the information to the weapons crew.

“There is such a thing as reaction time. For American and German tanks it's three to four seconds. For old Russian tanks it's five to six seconds,” Konstantin Sivkov, a Russian military analyst and former general staff officer, told RT news. “The new Armata tanks will have a quicker reaction time, most likely on par with the American and German machines.”

The new Armata T-14 tank is expected to have shooting range of more than 2.17 miles. While older Russian tanks have a range of up to 1.55 miles, modern American and German tanks have a range between 1.86 miles and 2.17 miles, RT news reported. The Russian government is planning to produce about 2,300 Armata T-14 tanks, starting 2020, to replace the country’s Soviet-era tanks, the BBC reported.