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TheWombat_matrixforum -> RE: Armata & Kruganets are alive (3/31/2015 1:39:12 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: katukov
quote:
ORIGINAL: TheWombat
The real question as always is not whether the Russians can make cutting-edge tanks--they can--but whether they can afford to make enough of them. Without any substantial export market (and the number of countries that can afford/need an Armata-type tank and don't already make their own is small), that leaves only domestic consumption, and the Russian economy isn't exactly thriving at this point.
I'm pretty sure that Armata will be always cheaper than the Western counterparts, so it will be attractive on the growing market of the developing countries. I can also imagine, that in case of failure of the developement of domestic designs, the license may be sold to India or to China. It's also worth noting, that the Russian armed forces concept is changing. In the future, it will be more similar to Western style militaries, than to the mass conscript army of the ex Soviet Union. It's still a long way to go, but the general trend of the changes - that are currently being implement - is quite clear.
It'll be cheaper, but cheap is relative to economic resources; if the Russian economy is weaker than the West's, the tank would have to be commensurately cheaper than Western models to remain feasible. This could be the case, it's impossible to tell right now, but the sophistication of the Armata and like designs argues for possibly substantial increases in overall costs compared to the past, even if the total bill is less than a new Western tank. It will be interesting to see, for sure.
As for export, even a tank that is somewhat less expensive than a tricked-out Western tank is probably going to be too expensive for most countries to buy in numbers that will impact the production levels in Russia significantly enough to reduce unit costs sufficiently to make the tank affordable in quantity. But again, it's a fluid situation, and changing allegiances and politics can make a lot of things possible.
All I know is that the Armata looks wicked cool and I want one.
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