Russia's Newest Tank Is In Ukraine - But Shooting From Far Behind the Front

The initial batch was rejected by Russian commanders as too unreliable due to production problems. 

The T-14s which have finally appeared are being kept behind the front line to avoid the embarrassment of having one knocked out by a Ukrainian weapon - or captured by Ukrainian troops. JL 

Erin Snodgrass reports in Business Insider:

The Russian Army has finally brought its top-tier T-14 Armata tanks to the fighting in Ukraine, but the armored vehicles are thus far serving more as propaganda than potential military power. The high-tech tanks are yet to get in on the action of the stalemated front lines, instead firing on Ukraine's forces from a distance. "Production is only in the low tens, (so) commanders are unlikely to trust the vehicle in combat."

The Russian Army has finally brought its top-tier T-14 Armata tanks to the fighting in Ukraine, according to Russian state media — but the armored vehicles are thus far serving more as propaganda than potential military power.

The RIA state news agency reported Tuesday that the much-awaited T-14 tanks have made it to Ukraine, citing an "informed source."

But the high-tech tanks are yet to get in on the action of the stalemated front lines, instead firing on Ukraine's forces from a distance, according to RIA.

"Russian troops have begun to use the latest Armata tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions," the unnamed source told the outlet. "They have not yet participated in direct assault operations."

"They are there for propaganda purposes," the British Defense Ministry said in January. "Production is probably only in the low tens, while commanders are unlikely to trust the vehicle in combat."

 

The decision to introduce the tanks into the war comes after Russia's T-14 program was bogged down by delays, struck with a reduction in the size of its planned fleet, and hindered by manufacturing problems, according to the British intelligence report.

But should the vehicles ever truly join the fray, they could ostensibly offer Russia a powerful advantage. 

The T-14 Armata is equipped with defense systems that can shoot down the anti-tank rockets on which Ukraine has so heavily relied to block Russia's ongoing assaults throughout the war, and RIA said this week that the vehicles can reach a speed of 80 kilometers on a highway.

The outlet said Russian combat crews have been undergoing training to use the tanks in Ukraine since the end of last year.  RIA described the T-14 as an "uninhabited tower," in which three crew members sit in an isolated armored capsule in the front of the vehicle's hull, from where they remotely control the capsule.