Newest Russian tank in the mud at a training ground in Kazan

By Boyko Nikolov

MOSCOW ($1=61.00 Russian Rubles) — Russia’s newest tank, the T-14 Armata, was caught on video training on a training ground in the capital of Tatarstan, Kazan. The video is spreading on social networks and gaining popularity. The video was posted on November 20th, but there is no specific date to confirm when it was recorded.

Newest Russian tank in the mud at a training ground in Kazan
Video screenshot

The video recorded the movement of the tank at a relatively high speed over rough terrain full of mud, water, baboons, and land obstacles. Soldiers walk alongside the tank, a movement not unusual for countries from the former Soviet Union.

The fact that the T-14 was recorded at a training ground, which is for the training of reserve soldiers, gives rise to the obvious speculation – that the tank will be sent to the front in Ukraine. There are no official claims from the Russian Federation that Moscow plans to use its newest weapon system, of which very few have actually been produced [about 20 including the prototypes].

Russia has lost a great deal of heavy armor since the start of the February 24th invasion of Ukraine. Tanks are one of the most frequently hit by Ukrainian anti-tank missile systems. If Moscow decides to deploy the T-14 Armata, it risks the tank being destroyed. But the worse option is to be captured, which would give Ukraine and its allies full access to the technology used in the development of the tank.

The possibility that the tank recorded in the video was conducting tests is more likely. Also, the T-14 can be fun to develop, as the lessons learned in Ukraine can help developers introduce new systems or functionalities into the tank in the performance of its combat duties.

main battle tank t-14 armata
Photo credit: Wikipedia

However, Russia has shown that it sometimes likes to take risks. For example, many of Russia’s modern weapons have been tested in recent years in Syria in the ongoing Syrian civil war, to which Russia has been invited by the government of Bashar al-Assad. However, Syria is not Ukraine, and the risk of Russian technology falling into unwanted hands is many times greater.

There is no exact information on how many Russian tanks have been captured or destroyed in the past nine months in Ukraine. The information comes mostly from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, which means that the numbers may be exaggerated. However, Ukraine claims that 2,886 tanks have been lost to the Russian army since the start of the war. Russia mainly uses the T-72 and T-80 tanks in Ukraine, with less frequent combat use of the T-90 model tanks, which are the main battle tank of the Russian Federation and the newest battle tank [if excluding the T-14].

The first batch of the latest T-90M tanks came into service at the Russian Army
Photo credit: Military Watch Magazine

In recent years, Russia has sharply reduced investment in the T-14. Starting with high hopes, Moskva hoped to attract foreign customers from the very beginning. But like most Russian developments in recent years, the T-14 followed the fate of the Su-57 Felon fighter and did not find a foreign market.

It turns out that the development and production of the T-14 Armata will be quite expensive for Russia. Therefore, as well as the lack of markets, according to the Russian Defense Magazine VPK, Russia has invested in the already established production lines of the T-80 and T-90 tanks, preferring to upgrade and retrofit existing armored systems.

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