There is a reason(s) I'm holding off holding off on this tank...
1) It's outside the window Don and I have discussed for submission of new items which is within a year or our six month "SWAG" with a later possible date change.
2) We still don't know enough about this tank...
A. Size wise it compares to the German
LEO 2A7+ however, it sits 20 tons less then the LEO which is at about
67.5 tons.
B. It's not even clear whether the
ARMATA really has ERA or not. Some say it's a thicker form of Ceramic Armor which is what it looks like when compared to the
MERKAVA Mk4b.
C. The "new" ERA on some sites is being described as being named "
MALAKHIT" and you'll see it spelled very similar to this, but, this presents a major problem because that ERA was around in the late 80's - 90's and proceeded
RELECKT (Pardon my spelling.).
D. The steel armor is of a composite nature no news here that's been around but, the
newest tank to have this still highly classified (As is it's MG shells of a new tungsten warhead and propellant configuration.) type armor would be Japans
TYPE-10 which the experts agree is generally in the "middling" section of most "Top 10" lists. They also agree it's one of the most underrated tanks out there in terms of protection and performance. Based on configuration to some extent, size and weight it would be a safe bet to look to the
MERKAVA Mk 4b and
TYPE 10 for some guidance as close/or at least distant cousins to the
ARMATA.
E. The ARMATA is just about now or by May to start full operational test evaluations until the end of the year. If all goes well well then production will start around mid 2017 - 2018 and that's fairly well agreed upon by the the refs. However this does not mean acceptance of the system by the Army because they have around 24 ARMATAS to play with. Case in point the F-35C the USMC has an operational squadron (July 2015.) but they're not flying missions and really haven't even completed
operational "carrier" ops yet. Or Sweden's
ARCHER 155mm SPA and Don will love this, Sweden just took delivery of the first four systems last Sep. and they just were integrated into an
operational unit earlier this month, however, that doesn't match what's in the game which is
JAN 2012. Also
Norway well, they
NEVER got theirs because they dropped out of the joint program in
2013 because it didn't meet certain unspecified requirements (There's a lot of discussion that Norway's MOD too make room for funding of their F-35A fighters had to make deep cuts into their defense budget ARCHER was just one of the programs to be cut. As Norway has also cut their F-35A order to due the drop in value of the EURO vs. the U.S. Dollar.) And as a side note it's REALLY making our Ann. trip to Ireland a real bargain now!!
)
Do you see where I'm heading with this!?! If not, Don PLEASE do the following...
NORWAY/DELETE/ARCHER 155mm/UNITS 600 and 601/Due to contract non-compliance issues by both parties. No units (24) were delivered. Refs below./
Now to be perfectly clear,
everything we had said they were
operational well speaking for myself, I won't make that mistake again. We spent so much of our time especially about 3-4 years ago
fixing, modifying and deleting equipment even down to the pictures provided for said equipment out here of stuff people had to have now, when it should've been later or not at all, it's no wonder why some of us needed a break out here besides the life issues that came up.
http://www.army-technology.com/proje...n-battle-tank/
http://www.armyrecognition.com/russi..._pictures.html
http://www.armyrecognition.com/septe..._12809154.html
http://www.janes.com/article/57781/a...h-army-service
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/art...-the-plug.html
http://www.janes.com/article/57738/n...ery-contenders
This is not an "attack" on anyone but, hopefully maybe a pause. I only came across the
ARCHER issue for instance because everyday maybe except on my days off I read my "daily paper" which normally consists of JANE'S/DID/ARMY RECOGNITION and ARMY TECHNOLOGY then there's about five others I hit about 3/4 times a week. That's how I found that or as Don knows, why I post when equipment deliveries are completed to "close the books" it all boils down to "there's something new", tracking/research, submission and followup. And I haven't always been successful myself-i.e.
ARCHER.
Regards,
Pat
