Armata Tank Armor ‘Impenetrable’ - Expert

The armor of Russia’s all-new Armata tank can effectively withstand all existing means of antitank warfare, an expert in steel alloys said on Saturday.

The T-14 Armata tank boasts some of the strongest armor protection of any tank ever made, giving it the ability to withstand direct frontal hits by 120 mm tank-fired shells, 100-150 mm antitank missiles and grenade launchers, said the expert working at the Institute of Steel and Alloys in Moscow.

With the introduction of explosive reactive armor (ERA), which is basically a slab of explosive that propels a steel plate towards a penetrating warhead, thereby damaging it and preventing complete penetration of a vehicle’s fighting compartment, the armor could even defeat 120 mm depleted uranium rounds like the American M829 and anti-tank missiles, a prominent expert in steel alloys said Saturday.

Featuring a number of innovative characteristics, the T-14 represents a new generation of Russian main battle tanks. The most significant new feature is the use of an unmanned turret, with the crew of three seated in an armored capsule in the front of the hull.

The main armament of the T-14 is a 125 mm smoothbore cannon, a new design compared to the one used on previous Russian and Soviet tanks. This could eventually be replaced by a bigger, 152 mm, cannon.

The secondary armament consists of a 12.7 mm machine gun and a 7.62 mm machine gun.