UK intelligence: Moscow's Armata tanks stay back, maintaining reputation and numbers

Moscow has refused to send its latest Armata tanks to the frontline in Ukraine for fear of reputational damage from their loss, as well as insufficient numbers.

“On 4 March 2024, Sergey Chemezov, the chair of Russia's defence manufacturer Rostec, stated that Russia's most advanced Main Battle Tank (MBT), the T-14 Armata, had entered service in the Russian military but would not be deployed to Ukraine. Chemezov stated this was due to the high cost limiting manufacturing of the Armata MBT at scale,” Caliber.Az reports, citing the UK Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.

“The Armata MBT made its debut on Victory Day in 2015, stalling during a rehearsal. The 1st Guards Tank Army was due to receive the T-14 Armata MBT in 2021, however, it is highly unlikely delivery to any front-line unit has taken place. The next generation MBT had been spotted conducting training exercises in southern Russia in December 2022, and it was stated by Kremlin news agencies that it would be used in Ukraine,” the intel data says.

“To date, it is almost certain that the T-14 Armata MBT has not been deployed to Ukraine. This is highly likely due to the potential reputational damage of losing the prestige' vehicle in combat and the requirement to produce greater quantities of MBTs which can only be satisfied by other variants,” the report adds.