America might need to derail an Indian purchase of the T-14

Business Insider
Updated onOct 22, 2020
1 minute read
Tanks photo

SUMMARY

Russia may have a major buyer interested in its next generation T-14 Armata battle tank. Indian Army …

Russia may have a major buyer interested in its next generation T-14 Armata battle tank.

Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat is currently on an official visit to Russia, where he will tour several military facilities and discuss defense deals worth over $10 billion, according to Russian and Indian media.

One of the topics of conversation will be the T-14 Armata battle tank and other platforms part of the Armata universal chassis system, according to The Diplomat, which cited Indian defense sources.


Russia's Armata Universal Combat Platform is based on a single chassis that can be used for other Armata vehicles, such as the T-14 tank, the T-15 (or Terminator 3) Infantry fighting vehicle and the Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled howitzer.

In November 2017, India announced it was looking for 1,770 combat vehicles to replace its aging arsenal of Soviet armored vehicles, made up mostly of Soviet T-72s tanks.

New Delhi plans to build whichever vehicles it ends up choosing in India with help from the manufacturer.

A 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV.

But a US law known as the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which President Donald Trump signed in August 2018, could throw a wrench in any future deals.

CAATSA sanctions any country trading with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors, but sanctions could be avoided by a new provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that allows the president to exempt sanctions on any purchases.

Initially, Moscow said it would put 2,300 T-14s into service by 2020, but has massively scaled back procurements due to budget constraints.

Moscow signed a contract for 132 T-14 and T-15 platforms in late August 2018, with the first nine getting delivered in 2018, and the rest by 2021, Russian state-owned media outlet TASS reported.

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