Wednesday, October 04, 2017

What Counts is What is in the Army

Sure, the Russians have built a tank that apparently rivals or surpasses the very old M-1 Abrams design. And that is almost literally a single tank.

Cue the pucker factor:

The Abrams has for decades been considered the world’s premier tank. However, experts say that the T-14 Armata, a next-generation platform that the Russians are developing, could challenge some aspects of the Abrams’ supremacy.

While the Armata design appears formidable, the Russians won't be able to afford very many of these new tanks, and will instead update a number of older T-80s to modernize the Russian tank fleet.

And really, the backbone of the Russian armored corps remains updates of the T-72.

The great advanced new vehicle that the Russians can't afford to build will always be inferior to the old (but still capable) tank in our Army in great numbers.

That article does accurately note the importance of active protection systems for our tanks (and for our infantry armored vehicles).