Armata Universal Combat Platform

The "Armata" Universal Combat Platform is a Russian prototype of an advanced next generation heavy military tracked vehicle platform. The "Armata" platform is intended to be the basis for a main battle tank, a heavy infantry fighting vehicle, a combat engineering vehicle, an armoured recovery vehicle, a heavy armoured personnel carrier, a tank support combat vehicle and several types of self-propelled artillery under the same codename based on the same chassis. It is also intended to serve as the basis for artillery, air defense, and NBC defense systems.

Origin of designation
The name designation of this tank (or more correctly "prospective family of heavy unified battlefield platforms" – "перспективный ряд тяжёлых унифицированных платформ поля боя") "Armata" is the plural of the Hellenic (Greek) word "arma"(άρμα), which means weapon and was an old Russian word for 14th century guns. This was wrongly transcribed as "Armada" by journalists on several occasions.

Development
The Armata combat platform has been under design and development since 2009 by Uralvagonzavod headquartered in Nizhny Tagil.

Prototypes of heavy armored vehicles based on the Armata combat platform were presented at the defense exhibition Russian Arms Expo in Nizhny Tagil in September 2013.

In November 2014 trials of the 152mm 2S35 self-propelled gun variant were under way.

The first 24 vehicles of two different types are expected to be shown to the public in the 2015 Moscow Victory parade with a batch of 32 to be delivered to the Russian Land Forces during the same year.

State testing is scheduled to begin in 2016 and go on until the end of that year. Russian media has previously stated that mass delivery will start in 2015 or 2016.

A total of 2,300 MBTs are expected to be supplied by 2020, modernizing 70 percent of the Russian tank fleet.

Design
Russian Lieutenant-General Yuri Kovalenko states that the "Armata" combat platform will utilize many features of the T-95 tank, of which only a few prototypes have been built. In the main battle tank variant, the ammunition compartment will be separate from the crew, increasing operational safety while the engine will be more powerful and the armor, main gun and autoloader will be improved.

According to preliminary reports, the new tank designated T-14 will be less radical and ambitious than the canceled ‘Object 195’ or T-95, it will weigh less, therefore, become more agile and will be more affordable, compared to its more ambitious predecessors. Additionally, the Kurganets-25 tracked armored vehicle provides high degree of commonality with the new Armata tank. The Kurganets-25 will evolve into various models, gradually replacing BMP and BMD and MT-LB and other types of tracked armored platforms. The Kurganets-25 will have modular armor that can be upgraded for specific threats, be armed with a 2A42 30 mm autocannon, and have four Kornet-EM anti-tank guided missile launchers.

The tank will have an unmanned, remotely controlled turret. It will be digitally controlled by a crewmember located in a separate compartment. It is believed that this would eventually lead to the development of a fully robotic tank.

Vehicles of the Armata platform will be equipped with the radar and other technologies found on the Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation jet fighter. They include a Ka band radar (26.5-40 GHz) based on AESA radar. The devices should be ready by 2015.

The Armata will use a new type of lightweight armor designated 44S-SV-SH, developed by Steel Scientific Research Institute enterprise. This armor does not lose its qualities when used in extremely low temperatures, an indication of Russia's military interest in the Arctic.

The Armata tank will have a remote weapon station turret and an automated control system, with the crew protected by an armored capsule. It will have an externally mounted 125 mm gun with 32 rounds of ammunition; in addition to tank rounds, a new laser-guided missile able to be fired from the main gun with a tandem anti-tank warhead and a range of 5,000 m is planned to be created. The secondary armament will consist of a 30 mm cannon and a 12.7 mm machine gun.

Variants

 * T-14: Main battle tank
 * Kurganets-25: Tracked infantry fighting vehicle
 * Boomerang 8x8: Armoured personnel carrier
 * BM-2 (TOS-2): short range rocket artillery, similar to flamethrower system TOS-1 Buratino
 * 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV: Self-propelled gun
 * BREM-T T-16: recovery vehicle