Information silence, which lasted quite a while, about promising models of armored vehicles for the Russian army and caused, in my opinion, preparation for a military parade 9 May, was suddenly broken. Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov announced the sending of promising tanks to Syria “Armani” for testing.
Minister Manturov's statement puzzled many experts. Armata in Syria… There were conversations and rumors about sending other types of military equipment for testing. Why is this happening? Why rumors continue to multiply?
T-14 “Armani” will participate in hostilities as “civilian car”
Most experts immediately had questions about this. Starting with the simplest, why such a statement is not made by a representative of the Ministry of Defense, and the minister of industry and, finishing, a little more complicated, what tests can be carried out only in Syria. Talk about, that while the machine is not adopted by the Armed Forces of Russia, the civil ministry is responsible for its creation and testing, leave for others.
Throw new, quite expensive and secret tank in a civilian crew in battle? How can this be done without the participation of the Ministry of Defense? Tests of the manufacturing plant can give a big head start to soldiers and officers in work on this tank, but they didn’t participate in real hostilities and on the battlefield their advantages will disappear instantly.
clear, that Denis Mansurov, as a high-level government official, just like that will not throw words into the wind. Is quite real, that several cars are actually delivered to Syria. According to my estimates, it is not more than ten cars maximum. Our BDK just can not take on board anymore. 10-13 tanks is the maximum, and given the mass “Armani”, 10 no more.
Doubt creep in from just one. The capabilities of modern intelligence allow the same Americans to control all deliveries to Russian bases. how, however, and we supply to American. appearance “Armani” It would be noticed even during loading and transportation. “Know and be silent” is not an American principle. And the US military is silent. NATO is silent.
Very likely, what is the hype, which began in connection with the statement of Mansurov, needed precisely by the Minister of Industry and Trade. It is necessary to warm up interest in this car with potential buyers. And Syria? Syria – this place, comparable in its climatic and natural conditions with the conditions of exactly potential buyers.
Following Armata “fight” can “to go” “Kurganets-25” and “Boomerang”
The fate of other cars is much more interesting., about which they also "shut up" today. But which are mentioned in the statement of Denis Manturov, published by RIA News:
Pre can say, that the tests “Kurganets-25” and “boomerang” be completed in 2022 year.
Many people remember that, that almost every year the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the manufacturers of these military vehicles declare, that "right now, literally tomorrow, day after tomorrow, as a last resort next year ”the army will receive new infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers. Naturally, there has already been talk about, that samples of these machines will also be sent for testing in Syria.
I must admit, that this is not the first “to send to Syria” campaign of such armored vehicles. The first time these cars were "seen" there a year ago, in late March-early April 2019 of the year. It was then that the Russian media, with reference to the fighters of the Syrian army and pro-government activists, disseminated information about the alleged participation of these infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers in almost military operations. true, that news came out 1 April, what added “intrigues”. Confirmations, of course, no.
The last battle of capitalism?
by the way, then almost none of their journalists had the simplest question about the competence of these same fighters and activists. Ask an officer of the Russian army now, what does he know about promising developments of the same Americans, the Israelis, French, German, the Chinese? It is unlikely to get a clear answer even about the appearance of promising cars. And the Syrian soldiers possess such information ...
Talk about, what “Kurganets” and “Boomerang” will experience in Syria arose simply after the statement of Manturov. To experience so to experience. Everything at once… By inertia…
And there are no official confirmations.
War as the most effective way to compete
Really, construction costs, production and testing of military vehicles are huge. Producers today must not only produce, but also to earn. I.e, you need to convince potential buyers, that the purchase of products of this particular manufacturer will give the buyer advantages in the military field over potential opponents.
Competition at the level of “paper disputes” is not effective. Another thing is the participation of products in the fighting. agree, even today it’s silly to advertise a Kalashnikov assault rifle. How silly to advertise Grad or Tornado. It was participation in hostilities that served as the best advertisement for a sufficiently large number of types of weapons and military equipment.
The fate of well-known contemporary Russian products is very indicative of understanding the situation on the arms market.. How interesting was our S-400 complex to foreigners after that, how Turkey bought them. This is even without the direct involvement of the complex in hostilities! How pilots are afraid to enter the zone, which is controlled precisely by the S-400.
And another Su-57 aircraft complex. Even flying in the sky of Syria, confirmed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, even “meeting” with American planes in the same sky, did not increase customer interest in this machine. by the way, all of the above can be attributed to “Armate”.
Brief conclusion
The coronavirus pandemic in the world hit the economies of many countries quite strongly. Affected the military industry. If before defense enterprises could afford the release of some products for quite some time, thanks to long-term contracts with our own armed forces, today the situation has changed.
And has changed dramatically. Products have become expensive and the Ministry of Defense can no longer purchase immediately and a lot. Manufacturers are forced to look for buyers "on the side". This means, Today, the same mechanisms are included in military production, which operate in the production of civilian products.
This explains the fact, that statement about the participation of the tank “Armani” in tests in Syria makes the Minister of Industry and Trade, not the defense minister or someone from the defense department.
Alexander Staver
