What this means in relation to the T-14 Armata is it's a pretty huge deal when Russia finally introduces an entirely-new main battle tank.įirst produced in prototype form in 2014 and first shown in public in March of the following year, the T-14 was the first entirely bespoke main battle tank chassis designed in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Which, in turn, was modified by an independent Ukraine into one of their most important vehicles in their current war against Russia, the T-84, as well as the Russian T-90. For instance, the ever-present T-72 was a technological development package of the decades-old T-64, as was the turbine-powered T-80. Whatever the case, it's customary for new Soviet/Russian MBTs throughout the years to carry a considerable level of DNA from their predecessor tanks.

Meanwhile, native Soviet nomenclature tends to declare the later T-62 as their first MBT by being the first of its kind built after the end of medium and heavy tank terminology in the 1960s. By NATO standards, the title goes to the T-55 series introduced in 1948.

Admittedly, it's difficult to pinpoint definitely which Soviet tank was its first MBT. Since the end of the Second World War and the advent of the MBTs on both sides of the Iron Curtain, the Soviet Union generally preferred introducing upgrade packages to their existing main battle tank platforms instead of starting from scratch with an entirely bespoke chassis. To understand why the T-14 is the world's most polarizing tank before it's even been confirmed as seeing any fighting, you need to understand what exactly constitutes a Soviet/Russian MBT and the people on either side of the argument.

But depending on who you believe, the T-14 has yet to see a day of combat during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine despite having arrived on the scene there back in April. No, seriously, the amount of hour-long marathon video essays explaining why the T-14 does or doesn't blow chunks simply begs belief. But make no mistake about it, Russia's latest main battle tank, the T-14 Armata, spends more time these days starting arguments in online comment sections than it does digging its heels in on the front lines.

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