Urals Uncases Secret Russian Tank T-95

16.07.2010 — News

SVERDLOVSK REGION

The international exhibition Russian Defence Expo-2010, which takes place in the vicinity of Nizhny Tagil in July 14-18, made a splash, putting a T-95 tank on a private display; the tank was designed by the Ural Transport Engineering Design Bureau (NPK Uralvagonzavod OJSC). The ride characteristics of the novelty that was delivered under a canvas cover to the military proving ground were demonstrated to Viktor Khristenko, the Minister of Industry of the Russian Federation and representatives of the RF Defence Industry and Russian Defence Export (Rosoboronexport).

In comparison to the T-90, the main battle tank of the Russian Army, the new tank has lower fit, higher quality armor, better protection of the crew, new running gear and enhanced fire-control system. Based on the information from the "RusBusinessNews" sources in Rosoboronexport, it was in the early 2000s, when the T-95 was shown for the first time to Igor Sergeyev, Russia's Defence Minister. The marshal then informed reporters that the new machine was on-the-go and left far behind the Т-80 and Т-90 tanks.

That statement of I. Sergeyev almost crumbed the contract for a sizeable shipment of the T-90 to the Indian Army. Delhi demanded the new tanks. The Indians were hard to persuade that the T-95 existed only on paper and it would take a long time before it came out in metal form. By the way, the trial model has never been developed into a production vehicle.

Experts are still perplexed why in May 2010 the Ministry of Defence decided to close down the project. According to the information from Rosoboronexport sources, the tank outclasses the Israeli Merkava and the German Leopard in a number of characteristics. In its gun power, armored protection, vehicle endurance and mobility, the machine is able to compete with its western rivals. The engineers assure that all the design assignments given by the military have been fulfilled. In their opinion, if the tank does not meet present-day requirements, it means that the Defence Department is staffed with incompetent people. Meanwhile, the T-95 must retain its secret status: it can become the prototype for development of a more promising tank.