Was the Soviet T-95 the ‘ancestor’ of the T-14 Armata tank?

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union wanted a newer, better main battle tank, but the promising T-95 program failed, but this failure resulted in a frightening new line of tanks. than.

The Russian army has put into service T-14 Armata tanks since 2014. This will be the main battle tank (MBT) of the new generation of Russia, which is promised to be produced in large numbers. The amount of T-14 built is still negligible, but the T-14 is still much more successful than the T-95. Russia had ambitions to design a new tank that outperformed all of the most capable Western tanks, as well as any previous Soviet tanks, but the T-95 program was unable to outdo it. from the test phase. The origin of the T-95 main tank actually dates back to the Soviet era, when Moscow attempted to find a new main battle tank to replace the aging Soviet armored fleet. Those efforts continued as the Russian military inherited the majority of Soviet tank storage, including the main T-80 tanks produced by the Omsktransmash factory and the T-72 tanks built by Uralvagonzavod. . Russia continued to produce the T-90, at which time the T-90 was considered the main battle tank of Russia before a more modern tank could be produced. And the two tank factories are racing to develop a new type of MBT. The Omsktransmash factory started with a Black Eagle tank, which was essentially born from the T-80 but had a multi-chamber design. However, the performance of the T-80 in the First Chechen War was very lackluster. The Moscow government lost faith in the Black Eagle tank program and with the lack of funding the Black Eagle tank program was canceled in 2001, after which the Omsktransmash company quickly went bankrupt. While the Black Eagle is not impressive, the Uralvagonzavod plant is still working on the MBT in the Object 195 program. First reported in 1995, it was not officially recognized by the Russian military until 2000. The goal of the T-95 program is to create a tank equipped with more powerful weapons, including a 152mm main gun that can fire conventional ammunition as well as guided missiles, while providing better protection for The crew of three people, which includes a commander, gunner and driver. The tank is designed with the concept of a remote unmanned turret, equipped with an automatic loader for the main gun. In addition, the tank also has a panoramic periscope with thermal cameras, allowing the commander to scan the targets and then assign aiming and firing to the gunner. In terms of size, the T-95 is said to be larger than previous MBTs, and is similar in size and weight to Western tanks such as the British Challenger 2, Germany’s Leopard 2A7 and America’s M1A2 Abrams. . Especially the remote control turret design and the heavy gun are features found in the T-14 Armata, so it is clear that the T-95 is ahead of its time. However, only a handful of T-95 prototypes were built, by 2011 the program was halted and Russia switched to the production of the main Armata tank. The T-95 may be an early proof of concept for the T-14 Armata with its unmanned turret and crew compartment hull. However, it is likely that the 152mm cannon is overkill as the T-14 is still equipped with the traditional 125mm cannon. The question now is whether the T-14 will actually get past the T-95, but at least look at the T-14 now through its prototype stage and that’s what the T-14 does. than the Black Eagle or T-95 tank. Photo source: BMDP. Is Russia’s T-14 Armata the model of the future for all major battleships? Source: ArmiesPower.