Quote:
Originally Posted by btimbit
From everything I read it's a very interesting and capable design, aside from the autoloader. Too bad for them they over-designed it to the point that even they can't afford it
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When it comes to Russian military spending, when you write that "they can't afford it", you should perhaps indicate why that is so. Of course they can afford it, but probably at the expense of going into debt. Unlike the US dollar, the Ruble does not enjoy reserve currency status. Thus, debt financing is expensive for the Russians and they don't do it.
What the Russians do, therefore, is prioritize their defense spending. Do they need a T-14 (and an SU-57 for that matter) right now and the near future? Probably not. Are there more attractive options for foreign sales? Absolutely. T-72, T-90 and SU-35.
When T-14 was first sketched up on the drafting board, drone tactics were in their infancy. In the passing years, we've come to the recent clash in Nagorno Karabakh where the Azeris used drones against the Armenian armour with devastating effect. If you're a country looking to purchase T-14, you had better have a robust counter to the enemy's drone capability. Otherwise, there will be T-14s all over the battlefield waiting for recovery. Thus, spending money on T-72s and some close in air defense is likely the better solution for many countries.
Most armies are now reviewing armour doctrine in the face of the drone threat. I'm not saying tanks will be obsolete, but they are extremely vulnerable now and the Russians might be putting the brakes on the project while they figure this out. The risk you take is that you close down production lines to build something else and so it becomes even more costly to spark those lines back up again. And who knows, by then they might come up with a different tank solution.