T-14 Armata in Ukraine? Now it seems we have pretty solid evidence of how desperate Russian President Putin is to try and salvage something from his disaster of a war in Ukraine.
T-14 Tank in Ukraine?
Social media is buzzing this morning with a video on Twitter that Russia has sent its much discussed – but achieved little – T-14 Armata tank to the battlefields of Ukraine.
Please note that while 19FortyFive cannot authenticate the video or the location of where the footage took place, three separate Russian experts we reached out to felt confident that the tank in the video was the T-14 Armata.
Of course, we cannot prove the tank was in Ukraine, so please keep that in mind.
Why Would Russia Send the T-14 Armata to Ukraine?
This publication has covered the T-14 Armata pretty extensively – and documented all of the reasons why Putin would not want to send the tank to Ukraine.
As Senior Editor Peter Suciu recently noted just the other day, “[M]oscow may not want to risk the T-14 in combat, as it would be a major propaganda coup for Kyiv were any of the tanks to be destroyed. Instead, a few T-14s may roll into uncontested areas, which will allow the Kremlin to stage some photos and then highlight how well-supplied its forces are on the frontlines.”
He adds that: “Though the T-14 was first unveiled at the 2015 Victory Day Parade in Moscow, Russia lacks significant numbers of the platform. The Kremlin had announced soon after its debut that the Russian Army would be equipped with upwards of 2,300 of the advanced tanks.
Yet, to date, only a few dozen at most have been produced – and it is unlikely Russia will ever have more than 100 in its arsenal due to the high costs. Even producing that many could be a challenge due to the Western sanctions now imposed upon Moscow.
Of course, the T-14 isn’t the only advanced combat platform that Moscow has largely held back.
The Sukhoi Su-57 multirole jet fighter has been used in a handful of sorties, and then it only fired its weapons into Ukrainian territory from within the safety of Russian airspace.”
The UK Ministry of Defense has talked about this issue as well in its updates, covering this specifically back in January of this year.
They explained that “[A]ny T-14 deployment is likely to be a high-risk decision for Russia. Eleven years in development, the program has been dogged with delays, reduction in planned fleet size, and reports of manufacturing problems.”
It seems possible that Putin sent the T-14 Armata to a relatively safe area to do some ‘glamour shots’ if you will and leave the area. Why risk a tank that essentially can’t be replaced and give Ukraine what would be a massive propaganda win?
If you are curious, and I know you are, you can see the full video here.
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Author Expertise and Experience
Harry J. Kazianis (@Grecianformula) is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive and serves as President and CEO of Rogue States Project, a bipartisan national security think tank. He has held senior positions at the Center for the National Interest, the Heritage Foundation, the Potomac Foundation, and many other think tanks and academic institutions focused on defense issues. He served on the Russia task force for U.S. Presidential Candidate Senator Ted Cruz, and in a similar task force in the John Hay Initiative. His ideas have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, CNN, CNBC, and many other outlets across the political spectrum. He holds a graduate degree in International Relations from Harvard University and is the author of The Tao of A2/AD, a study of Chinese military modernization. Kazianis also has a background in defense journalism, having served as Editor-In-Chief at The Diplomat and Executive Editor for the National Interest.

Whodunnit
February 11, 2023 at 4:54 pm
If it’s that good I’d expect to see it out and about terrifying Ukrainians. As it is, all that I see is a test shot from a stationary tank in an empty field probably somewhere (safe) in Russia. Maybe I’m doing it an injustice and the shell landed over the border. Hopefully no sheep were injured in the creation of this video.
Paddy Manning
February 12, 2023 at 10:08 am
Powerhouse?
Oh no.
Armata T-14 is stuck with a ChTZ 12N360 (A-85-3A) diesel engine which is smaller than its 1500 bhp would suggest but is utterly unreliable in the field. Originally it was a pump driver for oil pipelines. T-14s needed to be accompanied by a team of mechanics just to stay moving. The ChTZ 12N360 can’t be replaced because weirdly, this tank was designed around the engine and nothing else they have fits the compartment.
Yes, it was unveiled at the 2015 Victory Parade and did what T-14s are best at, broke down and sat unmoving in the parade.
Delivery date for the tanks have been pushed out into this year so it seems there’s only about 14 of this giant door stop available right now.
There’s a toilet onboard too. There are some rumours that it works about as well as Howard Wallowitz’s design for the space station making crews reluctant to use the tank let alone it’s toilet….