Russian Troops to Receive 16 Armata Tanks by Yearend

The Russian ground forces will receive the first batch of 12 upgraded T-14 Armata Main Battle Tanks (MBT) and 4 T-16 armored recovery vehicles, also known as Armata ARV or BREM-T by the end of the year.

Until the end of the year, 12 T-14 Armata tanks and four T-16 BREMs will go to the troops, Izvestia quoted unnamed sources in the Ministry of Defense as saying Tuesday.

The serial T-14 Armata differs from the previously presented experimental machines. The first production tanks will take part in the Victory Parade in May later this year. These tanks will be later involved in military trials to check in conditions close to combat, the sources said.

Russian next generation armored vehicles based on Armata and Kurganets will feature home-grown sight matrices instead of French ones. Russia started its import substitution program in 2014 after the western countries imposed sanctions against it in connection to Ukrainian crisis. A number of countries ceased to supply components for Russian companies.

The Russian Defense Ministry unveiled its new Armata tank at the May 9 Victory Day military parade in Moscow in 2015.

The tank is operated by a crew of three, housed in an armored capsule at the front. Its main armament includes a 125-mm smoothbore cannon and a 7.62-mm remote-control machine gun.