Berlin
When it was unveiled in 2015, the T-14 tank caused fear in the West. Eight years later there is not much left of it.
Tanks are powerful, and not just on the battlefield. The heavy vehicles have an apparently unstoppable, robotic, frightening effect on the human psyche. Who the expensive behemoths field, possesses high technology, demonstrates strength, economic and military. Resistance seems hopeless in the face of 60 tons of steel.
The Panzer is a weapon that doesn’t have to kill to be effective – and that’s exactly why it’s a propaganda tool like few others. It was not for nothing that the newsreels of the National Socialists were so full of tanks that even today the myth of a modern, heavily armored Wehrmacht persists. The truth is different, Hitler’s army consisted mainly of infantrymen who went to war of extermination with horse and carts or marched on Moscow straight away on foot.
Not only the National Socialists Of course, they knew about the effectiveness of the tank, and after 1945 the Soviet propaganda machine also had them roll down Red Square every year on Victory Day. And let’s not forget: none of the parades on May 9th can do without T-72 and Co.
T-14 “Armata”: Putins Super-Panzer
What psychological effect the tank still has was shown on Victory Day in 2015. On that day, Russia proudly presented its new silver bullet: the T-14 “Armada”. Nothing less than the latest generation of main battle tanks seemed born here, a diverse platform that makes all NATO tanks, from the US Abrams to the British Challenger to the German Leopard 2, obsolete.
In terms of armament superior, at least as well armored as the NATO opponents and even faster, that’s how the technical data of the T-14 read. In addition, a tower that is fully remote controlled, which not only protects the crew better but also reduces their number to three and thus saves costs. Finally have to tank driver get expensive training and die, that’s clearly shown by the Ukraine war with its hundreds of shot down Soviet tanks, faster than you might think when you hear the word “tank”. Powerful, fast and (the tills) protective: Russian engineers had succeeded with the “Armata”, so it seemed, with the jack-of-all-trades of tank construction.
The myth of the T-14 – which was quickly picked up by the Western media – was then rounded off by the enormous numbers of Uralwagonsawod, the largest tank manufacturer in the world, should roll out of the halls: By the year 2020, no fewer than 2,300 of the high-tech weapons would have given the Russian army the teeth that it can – potentially – hammer into the flesh of the Leos and Leclercs. If these vehicles had ever been delivered, the Russian army would have achieved a 10:1 superiority over the Bundeswehr’s Leopards with the “Armata”. Berlin’s tank force consists of around 230 vehicles.
In the meantime it seems T-14 even arrived in Ukraine. The Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the Russian news agency RIA, that the tanks had started shelling positions in Ukraine but “have not yet participated in direct attack missions”. A Russian journalist raved about the tank’s merits on Twitter. The crew have “everything you need” and listed the vehicle’s technical details.
Not much remains of the myth
Hat Russia So NATO is hanging out with the T-14? It doesn’t look like it. “The super tank could be an air number,” said Germany’s top tank explainer, museum director Ralf Raths News portal “T-Online” still in February.
There are several reasons for this: Of the 2,300 vehicles originally planned, it seems that around 20 are currently in service with the Russian army. The enormous price for one T-14: One of the tanks costs around 7.1 million euros and is therefore three times as expensive as the T-90, which is also modern. The Ministry of Defense has revised the order numbers down several times, most recently to 132. In addition, there is the fact that Russia is now no longer able to get many of the installed components. As with other Russian high-tech weapons, they often come from the West.
But not only in terms of production figures falls T-14 behind the announcements from the late 2010s. “After eleven years of development, the program is plagued by delays, reduced quantities and production problems,” British intelligence services analyzed in January 2023. “An additional challenge for Russia is that the country has to adjust its logistics chains to the T-14. The vehicle is larger and heavier than the other Russian tanks.”
What the British say: It’s not nearly enough to own a modern tank. The vehicles also have to get to the front, and that requires railroad cars and low-loaders that are capable of handling a 50-ton colossus like the “Army” to transport. The Russian tanks T-72, T-80 and T-90 weigh up to 10 tons less, depending on the version.
In addition, there is the logistics for spare parts, ammunition and fuel, which in Russia is also geared towards the Soviet models. Now the “Army” but different ammunition than this, rolls on different tracks, powered by a different engine. Not to mention the high-tech components for remote control of the turret.
It is not surprising, then, that the British concluded that, if at all, Russia would T-14 in Ukraine would only be used for propaganda purposes and the commanders would probably not trust the vehicle. Because that’s all the T-14 seems to be: a propaganda weapon.
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