1/
Remember the T-14 Armata? The russian tank that had a lot of hype for a couple years?
In the spirit of "zippier cars", let's discuss it a bit further.
2/
#T14Armata, an innovative russian tank with crew fully enclosed in the front hull behind heavy protection, while a fully automated turret was located in the classic way.
Along with the tank, related T-15 IFV and 2S35 SPG were developed as shared platform.
3/
The design seemingly got a lot *right*, tho there remains some discussion as to armor of the turret - supposedly absent in the vehicles produced.
With a lot of hopes riding on its shoulders, the design failed to enter serial production and seems stuck. How come?
4/
Enter 12N360.
Russian designers correctly surmised they need a 1500 HP class engine to make T-14 competitive. Yes tanks need to be zippy to survive on the battlefield.
And in their hubris they settled on X-layout (X-12) engine.
5/
In their unbridled hubris, russian engineers decided to standardize mass serial production of combat vehicle on an X-layout engine.
There's a reason this isn't successful historically. This was bound to attract Engineering Fates - and those are subtle & quick to anger.
6/
X-layout engine is alluring - very compact and powerful. Above all, an X-layout seems just within grasp - simply by mating two V-engines together. It's also *surprisingly* hard to engineer. It takes high hubris to try to standardize series production on it w/o a backup plan.
7/
Just how much hubris did the Rus' T-14 Armata engineres have? They didn't leave room for any other, *classic* engine layout in case of 12N360's failure. And 12N360 failed to mature; the company behind it, Uralvagonzavod, went bankrupt.
informnapalm.org/en/armata-t-14…
9/
So you appreciate the level of hubris:
There's been no series production vehicle powered by X engine, beyond a short sub-series of Avro Manchester. Only Brits managed to *just about* make it work for series production, once - if you squinted & kept a fire extinguisher on hand.
8/
The same unbridled hubris of T-14 is also currently miring Rus' invasion of Ukraine.
And, as irony would have it, ukrainians designed & produce a 1500 HP class engine for their T-84 tank upgrades just fine.
9/
Enter 6TD-3.
A 1500 HP development of well proven 6TD-2, compact & powerful and only slightly exotic: opposed-piston 6, a reasonably well understood technology. And, in a major pinch, could be substituted for with another layout: a flat boxer.
No hubris, getting things done.
10/
Recommend:
- keep professional hubris in check
- know history of your profession
- in particular don't tempt Engineering Fates by parading immature gear around
- don't go conquering an engineering nation, befriended by other engineering nations
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.