This article is not new, unfortunately, all work in this direction has been stopped.
In September 1997, the first public demonstration of the new generation Black Eagle main battle tank (Object 640) took place in Omsk. A tank with a turret carefully covered with a furry camouflage net was shown to the guests at a distance of 150 meters and under strictly defined angles. According to the developers of the "Black Eagle", in terms of the aggregate of its fighting qualities, it surpasses the best Western machines - M1A2 "Abrams", "Leclerc", "Leopard-2", "Challenger-2" - and today it is the strongest tank in the world. It has a higher combat survivability, better crew protection, more powerful weapons, and a modern information system.
Externally, the hull of the tank differs little from the hull of the serial T-80U: the same arrangement of rollers, the driver's hatch, active protection modules. The use of a seven-wheel base indicates the relationship of the "Black Eagle" with tanks of the previous generation, and this will greatly facilitate its serial production and simplify operation in the army.
The most significant difference between the new vehicle and the T-80 is a welded turret of a fundamentally new type (the tank demonstrated its full-size mock-up, which has the configuration of a "standard" product), which has a high level of protection. In terms of its size and configuration, it resembles the turrets of the latest generation of Western tanks. The automated ammo rack is separated from the fighting compartment by an armored partition, which significantly increases the protection of the crew. Earlier, on Russian tanks, the automatic loader drum was located under a light polykom of the fighting compartment, so the explosion of ammunition led to the inevitable death of the crew, which was confirmed by the sad experience of the war in Chechnya. The adopted layout solution made it possible to reduce the height of the "Black Eagle" in comparison with the T-80 by 400 mm, thus making it the lowest tank in its class.
The horizontal arrangement of ammunition in the rear of the turret allows the use of longer, and therefore more powerful armor-piercing sub-caliber ammunition, and also simplifies the process of automatic loading and increases the rate of fire. Large angles of inclination of the frontal plates of the turret provide more reliable protection when the tank is fired upon by armor-piercing subcaliber projectiles. It is assumed that a 152-mm cannon can be installed on the Black Eagle, but according to Western experts, the gun mounted on the turret model has a caliber of about 135-140 mm.
On-board information system "Black Eagle" provides control over all major systems of the vehicle, as well as automated exchange of information with other tanks and higher commanders.
The tank is equipped with a new gas turbine engine with an output of more than 1500 hp. and has a combat weight of about 50 tons. As a result, the specific power exceeds 30 hp / t, which is a record figure. As a consequence, the dynamic characteristics of the "Black Eagle" should significantly exceed the characteristics of Western tanks of the third generation, with a specific power of 20-25 hp / t.
The Transport Engineering Design Bureau (KBTM) has patented the Black Eagle tank in the Eurasian Patent Office, which was shown for the first and last time at VTTV-1997 wrapped in a camouflage net. Then the show was unauthorized, now the armored vehicle is disclosed for any request to the patent office.
Tank T-95
One of the layout options for a promising tank
All technical characteristics, appearance and layout features of the "object 95" are still secret. At the same time, some experts, primarily foreign ones, already have a certain idea of the new machine. The mass of the T-95 is about 50 tons, the length and width, apparently, will be about the same as that of the T-72, T-80 and T-90 in service. Experts believe that in order to achieve the mobility necessary in modern combat, the tank must be equipped with a gas turbine engine with a capacity of more than 1250 horsepower, which is being developed by the serial GTD-1250. There is no ready-made diesel engine of comparable power in Russia. The tank, most likely, will receive a new suspension, which ensures a smoother ride.
However, the main "highlight" of the new vehicle is a completely new layout of the fighting compartment. The cannon on "Object 95" is located in a small, uninhabited tower. The automatic loader of the new design, traditional for Russian tanks of the last thirty-odd years, is located under the turret. The workplaces of the crew of three - the driver-mechanic, the gunner-operator and the commander - are placed in a special armored capsule, fenced off by an armored bulkhead from the automatic loader and the turret. This solution allows not only to reduce the silhouette of the tank, i.e. make it less visible on the battlefield, but also significantly protect the crew.
The new layout allows to overcome the main contradiction of modern tank building - the need to combine reliable protection with mobility and portability. In the West, it was not possible to overcome the dilemma, therefore modern NATO MBTs - M1A2 Abrams, Leopard-2, Leclerc - weigh more than 60 tons. With such a mass, it is sometimes impossible to use them outside the terrain prepared in engineering terms. The transfer of these monsters through the air is also significantly hampered. Russia chose a different path, sacrificing the thickness of the armor with the simultaneous installation on the T-80 and T-90 systems of optoelectronic suppression of anti-tank weapons. However, even such a decision, given the increase in the effectiveness of anti-tank weapons, sooner or later had to lead tank construction to a dead end.
To solve the problem, it was necessary to radically change the layout of the tank, which experts had been talking about for twenty years. However, in the West, the matter did not go further than talk and sketch projects, and the first revolution in tank building was made by Russian designers. A sharp reduction (primarily due to the withdrawal of the crew from the tower) of the internal space, which must be securely booked, makes it possible to provide a previously unattainable level of security without going beyond the weight restrictions associated with the carrying capacity of bridges, wheeled conveyors, aircraft.
Judging by the reports of experts, within the framework of "Object 95" it was possible to solve the second most serious problem of modern tank building, due to the fact that the power reserves of existing tank guns with a caliber of 125 mm (in Russia) and 120 mm (in the West) are completely exhausted. In particular, the domestic 2A46, installed on the T-72 and T-80, fully justifies itself in the conduct of hostilities in Chechnya, but it has insufficient muzzle energy to confidently defeat promising foreign tanks. The possible caliber of the T-95 gun is 135 mm. This is a completely new artillery system. In all likelihood, it will still remain smoothbore. Abroad, in particular in Israel, the possibility of equipping the next generation tanks with a 140 mm gun is being studied.
The vehicle's hull and turret will be made of composite armor, also covered with third-generation active armor. It is possible that the T-95 will be equipped with an active protection system created on the basis of the existing Arena.
Experts believe that the tank will receive a new fire control system (FCS). Information about the target will be received via optical, thermal imaging, infrared channels, a laser rangefinder and, possibly, a radar station will be included in it. It should be noted that the new layout imposes very stringent requirements on the OMS, since the crew is deprived of the opportunity to use traditional optical devices. Western designs of tanks with an uninhabited turret provide that information about the situation on the battlefield will be displayed on screens that will create the effect of seeing through the armor in any direction for the crew. It is not yet clear how this problem will be solved in the new Russian tanks, since Russia traditionally lags somewhat behind in the field of modern means of integrating and displaying information.
Analysis of open information shows that the T-95 is significantly superior (at least in some aspects) to everything that has been created or will be created in the next few years in the West.
