The feats of Russian engineering never cease to amaze. For example, the Russian regime's newest main battle tank, the T-14 Armata, which has proven to be rather underwhelming, according to reports:
"Russian troops in Ukraine were reluctant to accept main battle tanks in Ukraine because they were in such poor condition, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has said.
In an intelligence update on Twitter, the MOD said Russia worked to 'prepare a small number of T-14 Armata main battle tanks for the type's first operational deployment in Ukraine'.
'However, in recent months, deployed Russian forces were reluctant to accept the first tranche of T-14 allocated to them because the vehicles were in such poor condition,' the update said.
The MOD said it was 'unclear' which aspects of the vehicle prompted the reaction from Russian troops, but officials have 'publicly described problems with the T-14's engine and thermal imaging systems'." (our emphasis)
In other words, they stall and can't locate targets through thermal imaging. The T-14 was first displayed in 2015 at Moscow's "Victory Day Parade" in Red Square, where it promptly stalled and had to be towed away, something Ukrainian farmers are excited about:
Ukrainian farmers excited about Russia's possible deployment of cutting-edge T-14 Armata tanks pic.twitter.com/86HXcQAyEN
— Sputnik Not (@Sputnik_Not) January 25, 2023
With sanctions crippling Russia's ability to buy foreign technology for its weapons, the T-14 might be the pinnacle of Russia's home-grown technology. As they might angrily exclaim, "shitsky!"
(h/t Crooks and Liars)
(photo: Russian officials discuss assigning blame as the T-14 is towed away/ AP photo)
2 comments:
In related news, there's the nugget that General Alexei Maslov, 69, suddenly fell ill and died on Christmas Day just after Putin cancelled a visit to the tank firm where he worked in Uralvagonzavod. He was once the head of Soviet ground forces and ambassador to NATO.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/20875624/mystery-death-russian-general-putin/
Build lousy tanks, buy the farm. Apparently, though, he wasn't defenestrated as many other top generals and leaders have been.
I think we should relent a bit on the sanctions and allow Russia to buy technology from Tesla. It will be more interesting if their tanks spontaneously explode instead of just stalling.
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