Russia unveils its new T-14 Armata MBT and other Armored Vehicles before Victory Day 2015 Parade

Although this is not totally related to Philippine defense and security, in the future, it could be.

The Russian Army has finally unveilled the vehicles it intends to display during the upcoming Victory Day 2015 parade in Moscow this May 9, 2015. A short summary and photo gallery follows below of what to expect on that day, which is expected to be very important for many defense institutions and government military planners.

Note: All photos are taken from Army Recognition website.


1. T-14 Armata Main Battle Tank

This is the latest generation main battle tank coming from the Russians, a totally different vehicle from their previous generation T-90 series which is heavily derived from the T-72 series. According to several sources, the T-14 Armata is equipped with a unmanned turret installed with a new 125mm smoothbore gun with autoloader feature for 32 ready to use rounds. The photo still covers the turret of the tank, keeping many exposed systems and features until the actual parade.




2. BMP T-15 Armata Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle:

This is a new AIFV that uses the same platform as the T-14 Armata main battle tank. Although it is expected that the vehicle will be armed with a 30mm 2A42 automatic cannon and 4 Kornet-EM anti tank guided missiles, the turret portion was also covered during the parade practice so it is still unconfirmed. It is also expected to have the same level of protection as the tank version, and can be operated by a 2-man crew and a passenger compartment at the rear for a heavy infantry squad.




3. BMP Kurganets-25 Tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicle

This new tracked armored vehicle is the main version of the Kurganets-25 series, and is considerably large even compared to the T-14 Armata tank. It is expected to be armed with a 30mm 2A42 automatic cannon, a 7.62mm PKT co-axial machine gun, and 4 Kornet-EM anti tank guided missiles in the same manner as the BMP T-15. It is expected to carry 8 heavy infantry aside from the 3-man crew, and is fully amphibious with 2 waterjets at the rear of the hull. It is equipped with a passive armor protection system which increases the total width of the vehicle.




4. BTR Kurganets-25 Tracked Armored Personnel Carrier

This is a lightly armed version of the BMP Kurganets-25, using the same platfrom but armed only with a small turret with either a 12.7mm heavy machine gun or a 7.62mm machine gun. MaxDefense believes that this would have a higher passenger capacity that its IFV version.




5. BTR Bumerang Wheeled 8x8 Armored Vehicle

This new wheeled armored vehicle is slated to replace the Soviet-era BTR-80 and BTR-82 series in several variants, and is more reminicent of modern wheeled armored vehicle models from Western countries. It's top portion was also covered during the parade practice, but it is expected to carry the same turret as the BMP Kurganets-25 IFV, with a 30mm 2A42 auto cannon, a 7.62mm co-axial machine gun and 4 Kornet-EM anti-tank guided missiles. It is also expected to be a universal platform for different variants which may include fire support vehicles, anti-tank missile carrier, command post, armored ambulance, and mortar carrier variants.




6. Kamaz 63968 Typhoon-K Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle

One of the two new MRAPs for the Russian Army under the Typhoon program, the Typhoon-K from truck manufacturer Kamaz is a modular 6x6 wheeled armored personnel carrier that can carry 16 troops including the crew. It has a V-hull design that Kamaz claims can withstand up to 8kg of TNT blasts from underneath the vehicle.




7. Ural 63095 Typhoon-U Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle

Another new MRAP from Russia, also under the Typhoon program but is made by Ural. It is also a 6x6 wheeled armored vehicle, which can be armed with a machine gun up to 14.5mm caliber mounted on a remote weapons station on the top of the crew compartment. It has a capacity of 14 troops including its 2-man crew. And like the Kamaz MRAP, it is also designed with a V-hull that the manufacturer claims can withstand an 8kg TNT or mine blast.




8. 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV 152mm Self Propelled Tracked Howitzer

This is a new generation self-propelled tracked howitzser from Russia that utilizes the old 2S19 Msta chassis with a new turret and a new 152mm 2A88 howitzer. The vehicle is also armed with a remote weapons station for a 12.7mm machine gun mounted on top of the turret. It can fire the generation 9K25 152mm Krasnopol laser-guided projectile.


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Aside from these new vehicles, the Russian Army will be featuring a number of upgraded and up-to-date vehicles and weapons systems being used. These include the following vehicles:


1. GAZ-2975 Tigr High Mobility Multipurpose Vehicle

Tigr armored vehicle with Kornet-D anti-tank guided missile laucnhers.

2. BTR-82A 8x8 Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier

3. BMD-4M Airborne Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle

4. BTR-MDM Rakushka Tracked Armored Personnel Carrier

5. T-90A Main Battle Tank

6. K-300P Bastion-P Coastal Defense Missile System

Vietnam is currently an operator of this system, wherein they acquire two systems in 2011. The system fires the P-800 Oniks (SS-N-26 Yakhont Strobile) anti-ship cruise missiles, and has a maximum range of around 300km. 




7. TOR-M2U Mobile Air Defense Missile System

8. BUK-M2 Mobile Air Defense Missile System (SA-17 Grizzly)

9. Pantsir-S Short Range Air Defense System (SA-22 Greyhound)

10. S-400 Triumf Long Range Air Defense Missile System (SA-21 Growler)

This is the same air defense missile system that Russia approved to sell to China, which is in effect already something worth looking at in the Philippine setting.




11. Yars RS-24 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

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While these systems or vehicles are not directly affecting the Philippines, there are chances that they would in the future. China is a heavy importer of Russian arms, and they already are in the final stages of a deal to acquire the long range S-400 Triumf air defense system which can reach hundreds of miles from its launching position. An S-400 in the Spratly Islands would complicate the movement of aircraft from the Philippines, including inside Philippine airspace.

Vietnam is also a Russian military equipment importer, and already has the K-300P Bastion-P shore based missile system in its inventory. Although their main target are Chinese ships, it is not impossible for them to target Philippine ships as well, especially that they are also a claimant in some of the islands inside the Kalayaan Group of Islands in the West Philippine Sea. They are also expected to acquire some of the Russian equipment listed above for their own needs. Example is Russia's main battle tanks, as they are currently operating a large fleet of obsolete tank that may need replacement very soon.

Both Indonesia and Malaysia are currently Russian equipment users, and it may not be impossible for them to acquire land and missile systems from Russia in the coming years to beef up or replace their existing systems.

Although not a Russian equipment user, the Philippine military should open up to the possibility of acquiring military equipment from Russia if they are capable of filling the requirements of the AFP. This may be a difficult pill to swallow for the country's defense planners considering its strong affiliation with Western or US military equipment and systems, but it must be open to such options.

We'll see more of these Russian equipment in the coming Victory Day parade on May 9, 2015.

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Main Battle Tanks in ASEAN Armies - Is there a Regional Tank Buying Spree?

Indonesia received its first delivery of pre-owned Leopard 2 main battle tanks from Germany, specifically the "A4" variant, together with pre-owned but upgraded Marder IFVs. This is part of their deal with Germany, which is a major breakthrough for Indonesia as they have been planning for this capability for a long time. 

Indonesia recently received their first Leopard 2A4 tank and Marder IFV from Germany as part of a larger deal.
Photo taken from Kaskus forums c/o Audrey.

Is there a main battle tank race in the ASEAN region? Well, from MaxDefense point of view, there is a spike of purchases and interests for main battle tanks in the region that started a few years ago, and a so-called race is probably only happening in a few member countries.

Within the Southeast Asian region, only the mainland states of Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia traditionally operate tanks heavier than 35 tons, although it is a very well known secret that Singapore keeps an arsenal of main battle tanks since the mid 1970s to avoid giving their perceived threats a reason to include main battle tanks in their arsenal.

Traditional Tank Users:
Vietnam:
Of all ASEAN armies, Vietnam has the largest tank fleet and has been a long time user of Soviet-era T-54/55 series and Chinese Type 59 medium tanks, with several units actually being Vietnam War veterans. Of the estimated 600 to 850 T-54/55 tanks in Vietnamese serivce, around 310 were modernized using Israeli technology into T-54/55M3 standards which involved the replacement of the original Soviet 100mm gun with a 105mm M68/L7 gun, installation of explosive reactive armor, smoke grenade launchers, a new German-made 1,000hp engine, a 60mm mortar and meteo-sensors technology. There were previous reports that Vietnam planned to purchase 150 T-72 main battle tanks from Poland, but did not materialize and budget was instead used to purchase naval assets.

A Vietnamese T-54/55 series tank, modernized by Israel to T-54M3 standard.
Photo taken from ttvnol.com 

Laos and Cambodia:
These two countries are also long time users of the Soviet-era T-54/55 series medium tanks, with around 30 and 300, respectively. Most of their tanks were also received as far back as the Vietnam War era. So far there are no tank upgrade programs or new tank purchases for both countries, except for the transfer of 50 used T-55 medium tanks to Cambodia following tensions with neighboring Thailand on disputed territory.

Cambodia recently received 50 used T-55 tanks after tensions with Thailand on a disputed temple.
Photo taken from Reuters.

Myanmar:
Myanmar is another country with a large standing army and a large tank force in the region, mostly made up of Chinese-made tanks like the T-59D reportedly numbering around 150 units, which it uses for several decades now; the Type 69 and Type 69-II main battle tanks reportedly at 130 units in service since 1990; and the Norinco MBT-2000, which China supplied several units in 2011.The Myanmar Army also reportedly possess 139 T-72 tanks, some purchased from Ukraine in 2002-2003 although the numbers are debatable due to absence of an accurate account of deliveries.

A screenshot from a Myanmar video of a Chinese-made MBT-2000 allegedly on trials.
Photo taken from China Defense Blog.

Thailand:
The Kingdom of Thailand has been operating around a hundred American M48 Patton medium tanks, with the first batch delivered to the RTA since 1979, and was reinforced by its first main battle tank, the M60A1 in 1991 and M60A3 in 1996, numbering a total of around 170 tanks. All are former US Army stocks and were sold to Thailand through FMS program. These tanks would soon be reinforced by a 2011 order for 49 brand new T-84 Oplot-M main battle tanks from Ukraine worth TB7.155 billion, although there are reports that Thailand used its option to buy as many as 200 tanks to replace the ageing M-41 Bulldog light tanks. There were reported criticisms on the government's decision to buy the Ukrainian tanks because of the auto-loader feature, while tank crews were said to prefer South Korean-made tanks.

Thailand's first T-84 Oplot-M being presented to the Thai delegation in Ukraine last June 26.
Photo taken from defence-blog.com (in Russian).

Aside from the traditional tank users, other ASEAN countries have also started getting main battle tanks as part of their army's arsenal. Originally believed to avoid tanks due to unfavorable terrain conditions, there countries have now accepted the need for tanks and integrated them to their doctrines.


Non-Traditional Users:
Singapore:
The small island nation is believed to be in possession of British-made Centurion main battle tanks, specifically 63 units of Mk. 3 and Mk. 7 reportedly obtained from India in 1975 and additional units coming fro Israel in the early 1990s. All were said to be upgraded with Israeli technology and are locally named as the Tempest. There are no credible proofs though of the tank's existence with the Singapore Army as there are no available photo or credible open sources to prove them except for some few publications, although the Singapore government did not deny or confirm their existence. But this is now moot considering that Singapore purchased 66 ex-German Army Leopard 2A4 plus 30 several spare tanks, together with 10 Bergepanzer-3 Buffel armored recovery vehicles in 2007-2008. Most of the tanks were recently upgraded to Leopard 2SG standard with advanced modular armor protection from IBD Deisenroth Engineering and ST Kinetics starting 2010. They are currently considered the most capable tank in ASEAN region for now.

A side-by-side comparative photo between Singapore's Leopard 2SG standard (left) and the Leopard 2A4 (right). Not all of Singapore's Leopard 2 are in SG upgraded standard yet though.

Malaysia:
The Federation of Malaysia procured its first main battle tank, 48 units of PT-91M Twardy from Poland plus associated support vehicles (6 WZT-91M armored recovery vehicles, 5 MID-91M engineering tanks, 5PMC-91M Leguan armored bridge layers, and 1 SJ-09 driver training tank) with the first unit delivered in 2005 as part of a contract worth $370 million. The tank is now locally known as the Pendekar, and are operated by the 11th Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps. It is interesting to note that as part of the contract between Malaysia and Poland, the tanks were purchased in exchange for palm oil which is one of Malaysia's main product.

A Malaysian Army PT-91M Pendekar during one of the parades in Kuala Lumpur.
Photo and commentaries from World of Malaysia Military Special blog site.

Indonesia:
The vast archipelago country is a latecomer in terms of acquisition of main battle tanks to its military, but it entered with a big bang. Under a $280 million deal with Germany, the Indonesians will be receiving ex-German Army Leopard 2 tanks with the following breakdown: 40 Leopard 2A4 tanks, 63 Leopard 2RI (upgraded to "Revolution" standards), 4 Buffel armored recovery vehicles, 3 Leguan armored bridge layers and 3 Kodiak armored engineering vehicles, plus 50 Marder 1A2 infantry fighting vehicles. They initially requested to purchase tanks from the Netherlands but their request was rejected by the Dutch parliament. The Indonesian Army continues to operate smaller tanks as well and these main battle tanks will supplement them.

An example of the Leopard 2 Revolution was displayed in Jakarta last May to showcase the tank as part of the deal with Germany.
Photo taken from Minsera.blogspot.com.

Brunei:
Due to it's small size, there are currently no plans for Brunei to obtain main battle tanks and this is projected to remain for many years to come.


So how about the Philippines?

The last time the Philippines had at least medium tanks in its inventory was a long time ago, with ex-US Army M4 Shermans received during the late 1940s. Aside from a handful of M-41 Bulldogs light tanks received in 1965, there were no other tanks that were procured by the Philippine Army (take note that the British FV101 Scorpion is not a tank, but is a fast reconnaissance vehicle). Fast forward to present day, and there appears to be some plans to procure main battle tanks that will form future armored battalions of the already active Mechanized Infantry Division. MaxDefense sources confirmed that the DND was previously looking at used main battle tanks from European countries, but the project was not given priority right now. This plan may only be included in the 2nd (or even 3rd) phase of the revised AFP Modernization program if everything goes according to plan.

The heaviest tank operated by the Philippine Army was the M4 Sherman tank. This example appears to be have the insignia of the 1st "Tabak" Division". The Philippines remain as the only major ASEAN country without major tank assets in its army.
Photo from Smith & Wesson forum c/o jun225.

Looking at how the Philippine Army's proposed items for purchase in the 1st phase of the Revised AFP Modernization Law, it appears that main battle tanks have taken the backseat due to the limited budget allocation and the numerous needs to upgrade it current forces. For armored assets, priority was given to additional armored personnel carriers (APC) and infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) to fill-in the expanding mechanized units of the Philippine Army. This includes the expected delivery of 114 M113A2 APC from ex-US Army stocks within this year or early next year, plus additional requirements for new tracked APCs and IFVs, possibly based on the ACV-300 purchased earlier by the PA from Turkey. 

Contrary to most beliefs that main battle tanks are useless in the Philippine setting, MaxDefense believes that main battle tanks have a place in the Philippine Army's force structure. These assets are still the best defensive and offensive ground asset that any army could have, and are the spearhead of any army formation. Although the terrain in the Philippines is disadvantageous for tank operation due to fragmented land features, a combination of mountainous and river-rich terrain plus poor infrastructure, there are vast areas where tanks could be used, including the plains of Central Luzon and large portions of Mindanao. This was proven by the Japanese and Americans who maximized the use of tanks in Central Luzon and Manila area during World War 2. Recently, main battle tanks have even been included in urban operation doctrines as shown by recent experiences by foreign armies. All these perceived difficulties have already been considered by army planners not only in the Philippine Army but worldwide as well. 

Even as early as World War 2, tanks have demonstrated their usefulness on urban-environment warfare. Photo above shows a US Army M4 Sherman tank entering a devastated Walled City of Intramuros within Manila.
Photo taken from Wikimedia.

But of course, there will always be some setbacks to having main battle tanks. Not only will they cost much to purchase, these tanks are expected to have high costs with regards to upgrading, operation, maintenance, training and integration to the entire army force structure. It also requires several support vehicles for it to operate in the Philippine vegetation and terrain, like the need for armored bridge layers and recovery vehicles. These assets are expected to be procured all together with the main battle tanks once the PA decided to get some. 

The Indonesian purchase of Leopard 2s is actually something the Philippines can look at. They have the same problems as the Philippines in terms of infrastructure development and natural terrain, although they overcame the problem of financial capability which the Philippines has not yet reached. Although other analysts believe that Indonesia's purchase of tanks was because of strong pressure from the army high command and because of pride and prestige as the unofficial leader of ASEAN, MaxDefense believes that the Indonesian Army is at the right time to get such assets for their armored formations.

The Philippine Army must prioritize filling the requirements of the infantry units first, especially with the limited budget given to the modernization of the Army. PA troops must be given proper protection, new infantry weapons, better logistics and support equipment and better armored vehicles to support them first.

Although MaxDefense supports the need for the PA to have main battle tanks as part of their assets and capability, MaxDefense believes that the Philippine Army must give priority to upgrade its most basic fighting unit, the infantry squad, before going up the ladder where the main battle tanks sits on top. This is also what the current planners in the Philippine Army believe as well, which could be seen in their modest modernization plans as part of the first 5 years. This dilemma could only be settled immediately if more funds are made available to the PA where they can both take in main battle tanks and support equipment while also upgrading other spectrum of the force structure. 

Tank buying spree? Yes there is, but it's more of an improvement of capabilities by respective ASEAN armies rather than a race to outdo each other. As usual, the Philippines is late in the game but everything's not lost yet.

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UPDATES:
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March 5, 2014:
With the internal and external security issues confronting Ukraine, the T-84 Oplot tanks and other land vehicles ordered by Thailand may be affected. Delivery of the 1st batch of the tanks were completed a few weeks ago, but now the proceeding batches may be delayed. If a shooting war starts between Ukraine and Russia, or an ethnic civil war or war for independece of ethnic Russian areas starts, MaxDefense expects that the Thai orders will be cancelled indefinitely.

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July 1, 2014:
Indonesia is scheduled to receive the 1st major batch of deliveries of Leopard 2 main battle tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles. The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) will receive 26 of each of the armored vehicles, which they expect to be available before its anniversary on October 5.

Singapore was also reported as the unnamed Asian country that will receive Kodiak armored engineering vehicles (AEV) before the end of 2014. No specific numbers were released in the report. The German Kodiak AEV is based on the Leopard 2 main battle tank. 

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