Article

2016-11-07 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Putin's new 'super tank': British intelligence warns Russian vehicle is 'the most revolutionary change in tank design in the last half century' and leaves the West totally outgunned

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Posted by Blossom Unains5562 2016-11-07 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11125 views ] Top

#1 Bipolar world: arms race, space race. Darwin rules!!!
Maybe even a way to get western "elites" to pull their collective head from their collective rectum.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2016-11-07 03:17|| 2016-11-07 03:17|| Front Page Top

#2 The new Russian main battle tank is designed to protect the vehicle's crew on the battlefield

Yes, bloody difficult time being 'combat effective' with a dead crew.

Posted by Besoeker 2016-11-07 03:21|| 2016-11-07 03:21|| Front Page Top

#3 Its formidable tank, more modern then anything out there now, its relatively cheap and as it has only a three man crew (which I do not like) definitely has a price advantage.

I particularly like that the crew compartment is physically separated from the ammunition.

Posted by Bernardz 2016-11-07 05:10|| 2016-11-07 05:10|| Front Page Top

#4 Budget prep time in MoD and DoD?

Posted by P2Kontheroad 2016-11-07 06:08|| 2016-11-07 06:08|| Front Page Top

#5 the Israeli Merkava also is a low profile and designed for crew protection

what you don't get from the article is the actual performance

can the tank turn and back up quickly, how do the electronics work, etc. also of vital importance is how well the tanks coordinate with air power and air recon

Posted by lord garth 2016-11-07 06:27|| 2016-11-07 06:27|| Front Page Top

#6 Reminds me of the same "experts" that lauded the Mig-25 as a "Super Plane" as well. The plus side is we did build the F-15 to counter those imagined planes.

Before panicking, I would like to see some data:

How well the tank is survivable against western anti-tank missiles
The penetration performance of the main gun ammo (been a problem in the past)
Sustained fire reliability (the US didn't go with an autoloader as they found an 18yo arm was smarter, more reliable and helped with tank maintenance)
Crew comfort (russian tanks in the past were uncomfortable and during long operations made the crew exhausted)

Posted by DarthVader 2016-11-07 09:02|| 2016-11-07 09:02|| Front Page Top

#7 So an unmanned turret is a good idea, I'll give you that. But the range and speed are no real benefit on todays battlefield. Lots of nice flat panels on that tank, even with reactive armor, it is sabo bait. Our other weapon shoot from the top down. Smaller turret means nothing but a direct hit into the crew if it does not hit the turret. The track is still vulnerable, to hand held systems. And that laser viewfinder sitting on top like a periscope is telling me they are putting too much into buttoned up operations, probably because of the unmanned turret, and will be very vulnerable to other than kinetic weapons. Russian shit briefs well, but only works well when the fight like the Chinese, in echelon, with mass numbers. Fighting an Army that uses fire will still defeat them.

Posted by 49 Pan 2016-11-07 10:18|| 2016-11-07 10:18|| Front Page Top

#8 Couldn't help but notice all painted European Forest Green camo pattern.

Posted by Skidmark 2016-11-07 11:35|| 2016-11-07 11:35|| Front Page Top

#9 How does it rate against an Warthog? or a drone with the biggest missile a drone can carry?

Posted by rjschwarz 2016-11-07 12:32|| 2016-11-07 12:32|| Front Page Top

#10 Why hasn't someone come up with a completely robotic tank yet?

Posted by rjschwarz 2016-11-07 12:35|| 2016-11-07 12:35|| Front Page Top

#11 Behavioral controls are much more complex than smaller unmanned vehicles. Terrain interactions cover a much larger range of soil, water etc conditions. Plus coordination is key for armored assault and that adds complexity too.

Posted by Zebulon and Tenille2425 2016-11-07 15:32|| 2016-11-07 15:32|| Front Page Top

#12 After reading about what the Chechynas did to the Soviet tanks that went into Grozny I'd be looking into some way to automate the tanks, or at least give them drone eyes so they can keep the tank buttoned up.

Posted by rjschwarz 2016-11-07 16:00|| 2016-11-07 16:00|| Front Page Top

23:46 g(r)omgoru
21:53 USN, Ret.
21:46 Blossom Unains5562
21:42 USN, Ret.
21:41 USN, Ret.
20:21 Blossom Unains5562
20:20 Blossom Unains5562
20:12 Pappy
20:05 Blossom Unains5562
18:49 JohnQC
18:40 lord garth
18:37 Zenobia Floger6220
18:28 SteveS
18:21 Craique the Kid6652
18:20 Raj
18:18 Raj
18:17 Craique the Kid6652
18:17 Barbara
17:56 Alaska Paul
17:51 Besoeker
17:47 NoMoreBS
17:32 rjschwarz
17:27 Capsu78
17:06 Besoeker