December 27, 2007:
The Russian Defense
Ministry recently announced that the army would be getting a new tank within
two years. While the ministry statement appeared cryptic ("running gear, power
unit, armaments and systems of fire control, target identification and
reconnaissance that are absolutely new"), it actually described one of the
two tank prototypes that have been under development for some time. The most
likely "new tank" is a "T-95" tank that is based on the T-72 hull. Add new
armor and a gun (and ammo) that performs to Western standards (like the 120mm
weapon used in NATO tanks) and all the latest electronic goodies (thermal
imagers, anti-missile system, digital communications). There is a T-95 in
development, by the same firm that developed the T-72 and T-90 (which was
adopted by India as their main tank.) The T-95 would weigh about 50 tons, and
experiments have been made arming it with a 152mm gun. For various practical
reasons (space, recoil), there's not much point in going to a larger caliber
gun. But who knows. Well, maybe the NSA geeks with access to the really high
rez satellite photos do.