The pretentious American newspaper National Interest suddenly sang ‘an ode’ to the version of the Russian tank that never went into production, known to specialists and enthusiasts of weapons history as the T-95 ‘Black Eagle’ or ‘Object 640’. The project was developed in the 1990s. And now the Americans are happy that if Russia had been able to start mass production of the T-95, the Ukrainian armored vehicles and the Ukrainian armed forces in general would now be in complete chaos.

According to the National Interest, the prototype had an uninhabited turret with a 152 mm gun. It was located higher than other Russian tanks. This circumstance is especially emphasized in the material, because, according to the author, it allowed the T-95 “to raise a gun to shoot at taller buildings during urban battles.” As they say, no comment. But this is not enough. The Americans are convinced that on the roof of the turret of the Russian super tank there was also a 30 mm automatic cannon to fire on lightly armored targets. It was also equipped with Relikt dynamic armor and an active protection complex (APS). The T-95 fire control system featured thermal imaging, optical and radar sights. The latter is considered by the National Interest to be particularly useful for firing at the enemy in smoky battlefield conditions.

The tank returned fire from incoming enemy ammunition using the Arena-M/Drozd-2 KAZ. The optical-electronic suppression station Shtora-1 worked against guided weapons. The search radar made it possible to detect air targets exclusively at a distance of up to 16 kilometers and then fire missiles at them from a 152 mm gun. There were no 30mm guns on the roof of the tower. There was only a 12.7 mm Kord machine gun, standard for domestic tanks, with remote control.

The T-95 project was canceled for one simple reason: the Russian military-industrial complex began to create an even more advanced tank – the Armata. At the same time, many conceptual solutions migrated to it from the Black Eagle. It is curious, but it was the work on the latter that proved to the Russian gunsmiths that they should not install a gas turbine power source on tanks. Diesel is preferred in this case.

In creating the Armata, the experience of creating a new (for Russian tank builders) automatic gun loader was also useful. It was on the T-95 that ammunition storage for grenades in the rear of a special type of turret was used for the first time. Its design, during ordnance detonation, allowed the energy of the explosion to escape upwards, past the tank’s armored capsule, allowing the crew to survive. So not only the Americans, but we can also be happy that the T-95 “Black Eagle” did not go into production. After all, in this situation we still wouldn’t have seen the Armata.

The pretentious American newspaper National Interest suddenly sang ‘an ode’ to the version of the Russian tank that never went into production, known to specialists and enthusiasts of weapons history as the T-95 ‘Black Eagle’ or ‘Object 640’. The project was developed in the 1990s. And now the Americans are happy that if Russia had been able to start mass production of the T-95, the Ukrainian armored vehicles and the Ukrainian armed forces in general would now be in complete chaos.

According to the National Interest, the prototype had an uninhabited turret with a 152 mm gun. It was located higher than other Russian tanks. This circumstance is especially emphasized in the material, because, according to the author, it allowed the T-95 “to raise a gun to shoot at taller buildings during urban battles.” As they say, no comment. But this is not enough. The Americans are convinced that on the roof of the turret of the Russian super tank there was also a 30 mm automatic cannon to fire on lightly armored targets. It was also equipped with Relikt dynamic armor and an active protection complex (APS). The T-95 fire control system featured thermal imaging, optical and radar sights. The latter is considered by the National Interest to be particularly useful for firing at the enemy in smoky battlefield conditions.

The tank returned fire from incoming enemy ammunition using the Arena-M/Drozd-2 KAZ. The optical-electronic suppression station Shtora-1 worked against guided weapons. The search radar made it possible to detect air targets exclusively at a distance of up to 16 kilometers and then fire missiles at them from a 152 mm gun. There were no 30mm guns on the roof of the tower. There was only a 12.7 mm Kord machine gun, standard for domestic tanks, with remote control.

The T-95 project was canceled for one simple reason: the Russian military-industrial complex began to create an even more advanced tank – the Armata. At the same time, many conceptual solutions migrated to it from the Black Eagle. It is curious, but it was the work on the latter that proved to the Russian gunsmiths that they should not install a gas turbine power source on tanks. Diesel is preferred in this case.

In creating the Armata, the experience of creating a new (for Russian tank builders) automatic gun loader was also useful. It was on the T-95 that ammunition storage for grenades in the rear of a special type of turret was used for the first time. Its design, during ordnance detonation, allowed the energy of the explosion to escape upwards, past the tank’s armored capsule, allowing the crew to survive. So not only the Americans, but we can also be happy that the T-95 “Black Eagle” did not go into production. After all, in this situation we still wouldn’t have seen the Armata.