That is according to a latest the U.K. Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.
"As previously reported, russia has worked to prepare a small number of T-14 Armata main battle tanks for the type’s first operational deployment in Ukraine. However, in recent months, deployed russian forces were reluctant to accept the first tranche of T-14 allocated to them because the vehicles were in such poor condition. It is unclear exactly what aspects of the vehicles prompted this reaction, but within the last three years, russian officials have publicly described problems with the T-14’s engine and thermal imaging systems," the update states.
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British intelligence has doubts that russia’s T-14 Armata tanks met the usual standards for new equipment to be deemed operational.
"In 2021, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu described the planned production run for 2022 as only an “experimental-industrial” batch. Therefore, it is unlikely that any deployed T-14 tanks will have met the usual standards for new equipment to be deemed operational," U.K. Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence update reads.
Earlier, russian state-controlled media reported that T-14 Armata tanks had been prepared for use in Ukraine.
In late December, imagery showed these tanks on training grounds in southern Russia, where the pre-deployment activities are reportedly taking place, the intelligence update reads.
Designed in 2014, the T-14 Armata tank has been consistently been plagued with production setbacks and technical faults, such as when, in its first appearance at the 2015 Victory Day parade in Moscow, a prototype T-14 tank broke down in the streets.
Defense Express reported, that German Army received the first 'robotic' T-14 'Armata' and T-90 mock tanks to train in destroying these 'wunderwaffe'. We also explained earlier why russia’s advanced T-90M and T-14 Armata weren’t on the battlefield.
Read more: How Long Will it Take to Train Ukrainian Tankers to Use German Leopard 2 Tanks
