Russian super tank T-14 Armata. Is it really a threat to our Abrams?

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 13:39:37 -0400

Russian equipment was brought up in a conversation, I made a statement about the seemingly invincible T-14 Armata, but because its Russia, obviously not a whole lot is publicly known. So I'm curious as to what you the Armor community think about it, or even if you know about it, and what kind of a threat it poses in Tank on Tank combat. Also I would like to get the input of the AT crowd if you guys and gals have any special thoughts on the T-14.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 10 at 2020 5:47 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 17:47:47 -0400

I'm not armor, but I can compare google search data between the two. Whatever things are on paper, I always like to try and remember that China and Russia conscript much of their grunt military, and we don't. So imagine if you will the worst soldier you know of, and remember he choose to be there. Then imagine if you will the worst soldier Russia may have, and he never wanted to be there in the first place.

N. Korea brags about how big their military is, but in reality the minimum weight for a male to be conscripted in the NK military is only EIGHTY pounds. So all those pictures of those fit and tall NK soldiers, well, that's probably ALL OF THEM.............

The bigger threat is Cyber. How good are your radio skills and navigation skills without GPS? When satellites start falling that's when you know it's about to get real. We will probably always be able to field a billion dollar piece of equipment sooner and better than our adversaries. However, it's starting to look like you don't need to field a billion dollar piece of equipment when you can write a few lines of code and defeat it.

Response by CW3 Kevin Storm made Sep 24 at 2020 11:38 AM

CW3 Kevin Storm — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 11:38:22 -0400

I joined in 1982, this was a common belief that the Soviets had ratios for how many tanks, planes, artillery, IFV's and so fourth they needed to defeat NATO. That told me one thing, one on one, their stuff could not be that good. It reminds me of the Sherman Tank versus the Tiger tank, 4:1 and 5:1 ratios come to mind. The Soviets were willing to sacrifice a lot. The Arab world was ready sacrifice a lot against the Israeli's. How many times did they lose to them? The numbers were in favor of the Arabs, but the skill level was in favor of Israel. We know who won. Everyone is still building an M1 catch up tank, or what they consider to be better than tank. On paper their tank may be better. But what is the soldiers skill set? What is their ability to use combined arms, are their allies any good? NATO vs Warsaw pact, did anyone think soldiers from the Pact were going to mount to much? When was the last time the Russians moved an Army out of Russia, or out of the Land mass of Russia that is Europe and Asia, a true expeditionary force? Hasn't happened, they have no concept of the logistics involved. How many times has the United States done it? WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq, and I don't know how many Reforger Exercises. We wrote the book, and any new chapter of the book was most likely written by us. Don't get me wrong I love the concept of the Armata, commonality is unicorn fantasy to a maintenance manager. I won't put Russian tankers on par with our tankers.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 24 at 2020 11:49 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 11:49:10 -0400

I have read some reports that it has Armata has not done well.