New gun means new challenges
One way or another, a version of the T-14 tank with a 152 mm cannon will probably be put into production. But with such power and the presence of Krasnopol guided missiles, it will no longer be quite a tank, but rather a self-propelled gun. Destroying enemy fortifications, delivering high-precision strikes against armored vehicles and air defense systems at long distances - everything listed is within the capabilities of the 2A83 (remember, the firing range of the 2K25 Krasnopol is more than 20 km).
In general, this is a rather specific task, and for a multi-purpose station wagon, MBT is not always the main one. Therefore, we can assume that the T-14 series with the 152 mm cannon will still be limited. Such vehicles will most likely begin to be included in tank groups to solve very highly specialized issues.
Russia, as always, is a pioneer
Until now, no army in the world has this type of weapon. There is a high probability that Russia will become a pioneer in this area as well. Be that as it may, the statement of Army General Oleg Salyukov indicates that our military does not intend, as they say, to rest on its laurels and is committed to the constant growth of the country’s defense potential (in some cases, growth is even exponential).
It is safe to say that, contrary to the opinion of skeptics, Russia has fully preserved its own engineering and design school. The country's defense capability is ensured by its great scientific and technical potential, which does not exist on its own, but in close connection with production.
This state of affairs allows our Motherland to confidently pursue its own political line in the international arena, and its so-called geopolitical partners to bite their own elbows in vain attempts to force us to play by someone else’s rules.
Tomorrow of tank building
Meanwhile, Russian designers are already thinking about a fundamentally new generation of tanks. Journalists here are content with only rumors and general reasoning. For obvious reasons, this topic is obviously top secret.
According to confidential sources in the defense industry, the new car should become unmanned. The tank will be controlled by artificial intelligence (which, of course, does not cancel the remote participation of operators). And what is especially important for us in this case is that the project provides for the use of a weapon based on new physical principles. We are talking about an electrothermochemical gun.
Reference
The thermal principle of acceleration involves preheating the propellant in a heat exchanger and then feeding it under high pressure into the gun barrel. It is then converted into plasma using electrical energy. In this case, it is possible to obtain a smoother pressure curve in the barrel bore than in conventional guns and, as a result, increase the initial velocity of the projectile to almost 4,500 m/s.
It should be emphasized that an electrothermochemical (ETCHP) or electrothermal (ETP) gun is similar to a conventional barrel artillery system. It can be installed on existing tanks (and self-propelled artillery units in general) without significant design changes to the carrier. Because it has acceptable dimensions and weight.
As a result, we get a significantly shorter projectile flight time to the target, excellent armor penetration, a relatively small caliber (according to some sources, about 60 mm), which means the ability to significantly increase ammunition and simplify the loading process.
