This became known in April 2020, when Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov stated the T-14 has already been tested in combat conditions on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic.

[33] In November 2022, The Moscow Times and Newsweek reported that the state program under which the T-14 Armata is being developed had been halted because the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine necessitated radical changes to the planned expenditure for urgent needs.

[34][35] The same month, several videos and photos of T-14s appeared on social media, apparently training at the same grounds as Russian military personnel who were mobilized.

[36][37] On 4 March 2024, Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec corporation, stated that T-14 Armata entered service with the Russian Armed Forces.

[24] In 2016 the Russian Defence Ministry announced that it had signed a contract for a "test batch" of 100 T-14 tanks to be delivered by 2020, with the full project to be extended until 2025.

[40] In August 2018, at the ARMY2018 Forum outside Moscow, the Russian Ministry of Defense signed a contract for the purchase of 32 T-14s tanks and 100 T-15 infantry fighting vehicles, with delivery to be finished by 2021.

[47][clarification needed] In August 2021, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said that the Russian Armed Forces would receive 20 T-14 Armata tanks by the end of 2021.

[48] On 23 August 2021, a Rostec official said that the company had shipped an unspecified number of T-14 tanks in an "experimental batch" to the Russian Armed Forces.

[49] In November 2021, state trials were in progress and expected to be completed in 2022, and a "pilot batch" of twenty tanks was yet to be delivered to the armed forces.

[5] On 9 December 2021 MIC First Deputy Chairman Andrei Yelchaninov said that state trials of new ammunition loader for the T-14 should be fully completed in 2022, and that "more than 40" Armata tanks will be delivered to Russian armed forces "after 2023".

[24] On 25 December 2022, Russian TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov posted footage of the T-14 in combat training with other sources claiming that the tank was being prepared for battle and already deployed to the conflict zone, with a military expert saying the videos were probably shot near Kazan.

[60] In March 2024, the CEO of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, finally confirmed that the tank has never been deployed in Ukraine for being too expensive and the T-90 being a more efficient option.

[71][72][73] However, Russian engineers have so far kept the 125 mm-size gun, assessing that improvements in ammunition are enough to increase effectiveness while concluding that a larger bore weapon would offer few practical advantages.

[76] In August 2022, Russian media reported that the 38th Research, Development, and Testing Institute of Armoured Hardware and Armament proposed a list of new features for a prospective future T-14 design at the turn of the 2030s,[77] which included the following: During the prototype stage, several engines with power outputs ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 hp were tested on the platform, with the 1,500 hp version reportedly allowing a max speed of 82 km/h.

[citation needed] It includes a millimeter-wave radar to detect, track, and intercept incoming anti-tank munitions, both kinetic energy penetrators and tandem-charges.

They believe that it would be effective against 3rd and 4th generation ATGMs, including Hellfire, TOW, BILL, Javelin, Spike, Brimstone, and JAGM, as well as sensor-fused weapons (SFW).

[89] Some Russian sources claim the hard-kill APS is effective even against depleted uranium-cored APFSDS rounds traveling at 1.5–2 km/s (0.93–1.24 mi/s), but others are skeptical, saying the fragmentation charge would not do much to the dense penetrator; while it might be able to push it off course somewhat with a hit-to-kill approach, it likely will not do much to stop it.

[89] Additionally, using the AESA radar and anti-aircraft machine gun it is possible to destroy incoming missiles and slow-flying shells (except kinetic energy penetrators).

[94] In July 2015, the deputy director of the Uralvagonzavod tank manufacturing company claimed the T-14 would be invisible to radar and infrared detection due to radar-absorbing paint and the placement of components with heat signatures deep within the hull.

A retired senior U.S. military officer said that sensitive modern thermal technology could detect things such as vehicle movement, a weapon firing, an exposed crewman, or the exhaust of an engine capable of moving a 50-ton tank regardless of heat-generating component placement.

[96] In August 2022. based on experience from conflict in Ukraine, Russian army requested, and engineers suggested following improvements: The T-14 is equipped with 26.5–40 GHz[67] active electronically scanned array radar,[67] which is used mainly by the APS.

The commander and gunner have largely identical multispectral image sights, with visible electromagnetic spectrum and thermography channels and laser rangefinders.

In 2015 US cybersecurity analysts Taia Global stated that information obtained from pro-Ukrainian hackers indicated that Russian industries have had difficulty producing critical components of night-vision systems for the tank, and have attempted to buy them from a French supplier in the past.

Completion of the Irbis-K, the first Russian-produced mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT) matrix thermal sight, addressed a disadvantage of Russian tanks relative to their Western counterparts.

[102] Chinese company Norinco claims their domestic VT-4 tank is superior to the Armata design in terms of mechanical reliability, fire control, and unit cost.

[104] The T-14 Armata has been described as early as 2016 as a major concern for Western armies,[105][106] and British intelligence views the unmanned turret as providing many advantages.

[107][108] In response to the Armata, German company Rheinmetall has developed a new 130mm L/51 tank gun, claiming it provides a 50 percent increase in armor penetration over the 120mm L/55 in service with the Bundeswehr.