Does Commonwealth have a new panzer in the super secret panzer R&D shops?"According to the Russian media, an early prototype of the Black Eagle was shown at an arms exposition in Siberia, in June 1999. It appeared to be based on a lengthened T-80U hull, and to have very thick front armor and new-generation Kaktus explosive reactive armor.
"However, recent reports in open sources suggest that the Black Eagle program has been halted due to the acceptance of the T-90, built by the Uralvagonzavod plant, into the Russian military in the mid-1990s.
Russia has reportedly opted for Uralvagonzavod as the developer and manufacturer of a new-generation MBT, which will most likely have a designation as T-95.
Sergei Mayev, head of the Federal Service for Defense Contracts (Rosoboronzakaz) told a news conference in July 2008 that the Russian Armed Forces would start receiving new-generation panzers superior to the T-90 main battle tank after 2010.
The new tank will feature better firepower, maneuverability, electronics and armor protection than the T-90 MBT.
Its speed will increase from 30-50 kph to 50-65 kph (19-31 mph to 31-40 mph).
According to some sources, the new tank may be equipped with a 152-mm smoothbore gun capable of firing guided missiles with a range of 6,000-7,000 meters.
In comparison, the T-90 MBT has a 125-mm 2A46M smoothbore gun, which can fire AT-11 Sniper anti-tank guided missiles with a range of 4,000 meters.
pic "Black Eagle"
Now that's a tank!
ReplyDeleteYou're teasing me, right?
ReplyDelete===
Uralvagonzavod is the only operational tank factory the Russians have left. It can't keep up with production demands for the export T-90's (which are little more then hot rodded T-72’s).
One of my sources mentioned about six months ago that the almost dormant Kirov Works in St. Petersburg is packed to the gills with immobile T-80’s, lacking spare parts.
Omsk Transmash which produced the prototype Black Eagle went bankrupt in 2002.
When (and if) 4th Guards "Kantemirovskaya" Tank Division in the Moscow district is equipped with Item 195 tanks or anything other then T-80’s then we’ll know for certain.
Otherwise and until then, this is typical Russian arms propaganda. It looks good on film though.
TIGER
TIGER,
R
Looks good on film indeed, but functionality? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteThis new design from the old Sov system fails in the same way as the old failed failures in old Sov tank design.
The smallness and low silhouette was intended to make it harder to hit. That's non-op since with the current crop of anti tank missiles and tank gun accuracy, you can't make em small enough to make a diff.
So, what they end up with is a tank that is so horribly cramped inside for the crew, that crew fatigue is a HUGE problem.
Another issue stapled onto any and all forces using Russian vehicles is, they're guaranteed to be stuck with a horribly inefficient, incompetent and fragile logistics and repair system.
My only sadness in seeing this new geewhizery from the Ruskies, is that as an old anti-tank type grunt, I'll never get to blow one up.