T-95
T-95 is the name of a Russian experimental vehicle that was developed as a new generation battle tank . Only sparse and sometimes contradicting information about this project was made public. Originally, the T-95 was supposed to be introduced into the Russian army from 2010 , but in May 2010 the cancellation of the armaments project was announced.
The experience gained with the T-95 and Object 640 (Black Eagle) flowed into the development of the new T-14 (Object 148) battle tank based on the universal combat platform Armata .
history
As early as the end of the Cold War , plans by the Soviet armed forces to develop a new type of battle tank became known. In 1988, sketches of a tank with a vertical mount and only two crew members were published in a US newspaper. This model is believed to be based on the Object 477 Molot , a concept study with a 152 mm 2А83 smoothbore cannon mounted on a crown .
In 1998 an article in a Russian military journal followed, in which a similar tank design was published, but which (presumably for the purpose of deception) provided for a crew of five and unusually thin armor . Further concept publications followed in Polish and US magazines, all of which were based on the two-man concept, a crown mount and an engine system housed in the front of the tub.
In 2000, however, a draft for the new main battle tank was shown on Russian television, which had a conventional hull (with rear-wheel drive and conventional shape), but also a top mount. During a visit by the then Russian Defense Minister Sergeyev to the Uralwagonzavod tank factory , further data were then published:
- a 135- or 152-mm smoothbore cannon with an automatic loader in top mount
- ~ 50 t weight
- 900 kW (1225 PS) engine output
- 2 or 3 men crew in the tub
- reactive additional armor
Due to financial bottlenecks, the series production planned for 1994 was repeatedly postponed. Later - also in view of the massive increase in Russian defense spending in recent years - production and delivery were expected to start in 2010. On July 17, 2010, the tank was demonstrated to a very small group of people (including the then Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin ) in a restricted area as part of the military exhibition in Nizhny Tagil . Due to financial and technical problems, however, the completion of the project was repeatedly delayed and was ultimately discontinued.
literature
- Rolf Hilmes: Main battle tanks today and tomorrow . Concepts - Systems - Technologies. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-613-02793-0 .
Web links
- ОБТ «Молот». btvt.narod.ru, accessed on September 8, 2013 (Russian, detailed information on object 477 Molot).
- Soviet / Russian AFVs (Post WWII). Object 477 "Molot" (hammer). Retrieved September 8, 2013 (English, scroll down to the last section; further information and including a sketch).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Neglecting the Navy could threaten Russia's sovereignty. RIA Novosti, June 3, 2010, accessed on September 8, 2013 (English): "… and Russia has recently discontinued its T-95 tank project"
- ↑ Russia's new main battle tank to enter service 'after 2010'. RIA Novosti, July 10, 2008, accessed September 8, 2013 .