"Claims the tank is more than a match for its American and German counterparts could be overblown, analyst says."

One of Russia's new state-of-the-art tanks grinds to a halt during preparations for the country's annual military parade.



Moscow: A new high-tech battle tank hailed by Russia as a "masterpiece" appeared to break down on Red Square on Thursday during a rehearsal for the military parade at which it will make its long-awaited debut.

The tank's driver raised a small red flag to show he had problems but managed to drive on about 30 minutes later after an attempt to tow it away was abandoned, a Reuters witness said.

The parade announcer later said the stoppage had been planned to demonstrate how military equipment could be evacuated from the battlefield, prompting laughter from the rehearsal audience.

It was an inauspicious start for the Armata T-14 which will roll across the square in front of President Vladimir Putin and foreign leaders as part of Saturday's parade, marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

The tanks boasts high-tech developments including automated loading, newly developed armour and a remote-controlled gun turret operated by a three-man crew from a separate compartment at the front of the vehicle.

Part of a new generation of armoured vehicles, the T-14 will not enter military service until 2020 and only a handful will appear at Saturday's parade. It is still in development and has yet to enter mass production.
Russian servicemen drive T-14 Armata tanks during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in Red Square.

Russian servicemen drive T-14 Armata tanks during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in Red Square. Photo: Reuters

But it will be the first new main battle tank deployed by Russia in 40 years, part of plans to produce 2300 new tanks in the next five years under a costly rearmament programme to replace ageing Soviet-era military vehicles.

"If we take the word of the Armata's designers and producers, this is a tremendous, unbelievable breakthrough in tank equipment," said Alexander Golts, defence columnist and deputy editor of online newspaper Yezhednevny Zhurnal.

Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Defence Ministry's advisory Public Council, was quoted by RIA news agency as saying the tank was a "masterpiece of modern tank construction", unlike any other tank in the world.

It has a lot to live up to, and some doubters.

Despite the Armata's technological advances, Moscow-based defence analyst Ruslan Pukhov said claims by the Russian media that the tank is more than a match for its long-serving American and German-built competitors could be overblown.

"It is also very important who will operate this tank," said Mr Pukhov, director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. "If it is to be one-year conscripts, I doubt that even such a fantastic machine could be a deadly weapon."

Another problem could be the cost. Russia plans to spend more than 20 trillion roubles ($500 billion) by 2020 on modernising its armed forces.

At an estimated cost of 400 million roubles per tank, the Armata T-14's price tag could set back production, Mr Golts said. Russia's economy is in crisis, hit by a fall in global oil prices and Western economic sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

"At 400 million roubles it is more expensive than a normal fighter jet," he said. "It looks as if this tank is made of gold."

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