Just a couple of points....

 

Why do you say that Kontakt EDZ is stolen from the Israelis. Both Rafael's Blazer and Kontakt seem to have a concurrent development timeline.

 

Also, one thing that I've brought up in the past and it seems to be generally neglected is the ease of manufacturing. Like is well known, the Soviet Union pioneered composite armour, but it is one thing to build a handful of prototypes and quite another to equip a tank fleet.

 

The "loose" quality of socialist labour, not to mention material delays and shortages, makes it far more expedient to focus on ERA, which is relatively tolerant to such abuses, and provides an excellent increase in protection vs. the then primary threat (HEAT).

 

It seems a logical enough move to me

OK, just re-read your last thread and it seems we are both on the same track! I'm physically and mentally exhausted today so bear with me!

 

I think the way to go for Russia would be to examine the role and doctrine of her armour force and then come up with a techincal solution. So far, T-80 (BV, which is the main variant in service, along with a handful of BVM), T-72B(M) and T-90 are arguably ideally suited to the Russian defensive doctrine, which is one of "de-escalation" (selective use of tactical nukes).

 

I personally believe this is maskirovka, but as long as Russia takes this public stance she is generally safe from the threat of invasion. If an invasion were to occur, the armoured forces would be used in a reverse-Cold War manner, i.e. mopping up the incohesive remnants of a nuked enemy force. Any reasonably well armed and armoured tank is suitable for this.

 

Boris and Blue, ok after looking it up further the Russians did indeed experiment on ERA much earlier than I thought, though it took Israeli action in Lebanon to prove the idea worked, and thus Russia went ahead with there own Kontakt program. As for Kontakt-5 and LRPs, didn't NATO countries develop new rounds to counter this added protection? (Again the old projectile vs armour argument.)

 

Any way it seems that the idea of an unmanned turret is where the Russians are heading, the BMPT proved they can pull it off, though mass production may be a different story.

 

Also Blue enough about the LeClerc, we all know where you stand on this, I can't comment on the tank as a weapon system, I am ignorant, but as for good looks it beats all other Western tanks hands down, IMO. This topic however is for Russian tanks.  

Thanks

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(goto Trial , 20.10.99 MBT Protection)

I recall reading some of Vasily Fofanov's posts on tank net where he speculates that the results of that test had been witheld. He suspected that the figures he had been given were invented, and not the originals, so I wouldn't trust them.