The New Version Of Russia's "Armata" Surprised Even The Experts
- 30.09.2026, 14:45
Clinical gigantism.
Russia has modernized the T-14 “Armata” tank, effectively transforming it into a new vehicle capable of performing tasks that are atypical for a main battle tank. This is according to reports in the Russian propaganda media, writes UNIAN.
“Rostec has modified the Russian T-14 ‘Armata’ tank into a short-range anti-aircraft missile system,” writes Zvezda.
According to the pro-Kremlin outlet, the 125-mm cannon was replaced with a 152-mm smoothbore gun with a chrome-plated barrel. This made it possible to equip the T-14 with “Kornet” anti-tank guided missiles, which reportedly have a range of up to 10,000 meters.
The vehicle is planned to be equipped with artillery ammunition from the “Krasnopol” family, featuring a bottom-mounted gas generator and a satellite navigation system. According to the developers’ plan, this is precisely what will enable the T-14 to function as an anti-aircraft system.
In addition to the “Pterodactyl” UAV, the vehicle will be equipped with another type of onboard unmanned aerial vehicle designed for reconnaissance and guiding high-precision munitions to targets at significant distances.
The vehicle’s ammunition load will consist of 40 rounds, 24 of which will be housed in the automatic loader.
The new version of the tank will be capable of firing projectiles over 1 meter long. Specifically, these include specially developed “smart high-explosive fragmentation and thermobaric shells with remote detonation.”
On top of all this, the Russians have once again confirmed that they are working on an unmanned version of the T-14 tank.
What the Experts Say
Renowned armored vehicle researcher Andrey Tarasenko was extremely skeptical about the information regarding the new “Armata.” He believes that the idea of turning a tank into an anti-aircraft system is absurd by definition.
“Some kind of radar-style contraption on the ‘Arma’ that detects satellites. I thought that, to avoid getting arrested for this pathetic spectacle and drunkenness, they’d appear in public as rarely as possible and avoid mentioning the ‘Arma’—maybe people would forget about it—but no—they’ll keep coming up with something new,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
The expert believes that the 152-mm gun and “meter-long rounds” are narratives from the past, when tanks’ combat capabilities were assessed based on shell length and gun caliber.
For their part, experts from the military-technical portal Defense Express believe that the level of megalomania that Russian propagandists are injecting into the concept of the “Armata” upgrade clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of the specific role a tank should play on the battlefield in modern warfare.