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Russian servicemen drive a T-14 Armata tank during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade in Red Square in central Moscow
The Russian deputy
"The designed models are currently undergoing operation testing, Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said, according to TASS, a Russian state-owned media outlet. "We have a contract for 100 units that will be supplied before 2020."
TASS also acknowledged that Moscow previously said it would make 2,300 T-14s by 2020, which The National Interest and other analysts dismissed as "ridiculous," given the high cost of the tank.
Since it was unveiled in 2015, the T-14 has received a lot of hype and has worried many westerners - some of which is deserved.
The T-14 is part of the Armata Universal Combat Platform, which is is based on a single chassis that that can be used for a variety of Armata armored vehicles - not just the T-14 tank.
This interchangeable platform, according to Globalsecurity.org, includes "standard engine-transmission installation, chassis controls, driver interface, unified set of onboard electronics, [and] life-support systems."
The T-14 comes with a high velocity 125mm cannon that also fires laser-guided missiles up to 7.4 miles away, while the US' M1A2 SEP V3 Abrams' main gun only has a range of about 2.4 miles.
It's equipped with a revolutionary unmanned turret and armored hull for the crew, The National Interest said, and it's even one step away from becoming a completely unmanned tank, able to be operated by crews at a distance, Sim Tack, a Stratfor analyst, previously told Business Insider.
The T-14 also sports the new Afghanit active protection system, which has a radar and electronic system that disrupts incoming guided missiles, The National Interest said.
The APS can also jam laser guided systems and even has interceptors that can take out RPGs, missiles, and possibly kinetic rounds - although the latter has been questioned by many analysts, The National Interest said.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images Russian Army T-14 Armata tanks drive towards Red Square to participate in the annual Victory Parade as part of celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany and the end of World War II on May 9, 2015 in Moscow, Russia.
While the T-14 has strong layers of defense and reactive armor, "no tank is invincible, it is only more survivable," Michael Kofman, a CNA analyst, told Newsweek. "It's somewhat unclear how effective these defensive systems are against top-down attack missiles like the FGM-148 Javelin, which is expensive but effective."
"It's important to remember that the Armata platform is still a prototype undergoing field trials and not a completed system ... There is still a debate in Russia on what its capabilities should be and the initial serial production run of 80-100 tanks is doubtfully going to be the final variant, so we should reserve judgment," Kofman told Newsweek.
While the T-14 is impressive in many respects, Russia's main tank for years to come, given the high cost of the T-14 and even the T-90A, will probably still be the T-72B3, Kofman told The National Interest.