http://www.gateway2russia.com/, Kubinka, Moscow Region: A new generation tank is being designed in Russia. It is expected to become the basic combat system for a whole family of armoured vehicles in the 21 century, the chief of the Russian Defence Ministry's armoured troops directorate, Lt-Gen Vladislav Polonskiy, told an ITAR-TASS correspondent today. “We are planning to adopt the fifth-generation tank in approximately eight years,” he said.
The Russian army is now equipped with over 20,000 tanks. Most of these will be modernized within the next five years, the general said.
“The armed forces are now paying main attention to the modernization of the T-72 and T-80 tanks,” he said. According to the general, the T-72 tank will be equipped with highly efficient armaments and means of protection after its modernization cycle is completed. Incidentally, the modernized tank will be 40 per cent cheaper than the T-90 tank which, according to Polonskiy, remains “the most popular tank in the armed forces”.
