Seventy years ago, Soviet tanks made it all the way to Berlin, but on Thursday morning, one of the newest Russian tanks struggled to make it all the way across Red Square. The next-generation tank appeared to stall during the final rehearsal for a major military parade in Moscow to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in the World War II.
The Armata tank, which was on display for the first time, ground to a halt during the rehearsal, in an incident later claimed to have been a deliberate test.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will welcome the leaders of India, China and many other countries to Moscow for today’s parade, although few Western leaders will attend, and Russian Ministry of Defense officials will be scrambling to ensure there is no repeat of the incident.
The Armata is highly computerized, and there have even been suggestions it could form the basis for a fully automated robot tank in future. It is the first major tank to be developed in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, and is based on a fundamentally new design, rather than just an update of older models.
There are plans to build more than 2,000 of them, although this figure may come down due to the high costs and economic downturn.
The tank, which will eventually be called the T-14, has not yet been delivered to the army and is still undergoing factory tests. During earlier parade rehearsals, the tanks were kept partially covered in fabric to avoid revealing their design.
The tank that ground to a halt in Red Square later started moving of its own accord after an unsuccessful attempt to tow it away.
It was later announced over a loudspeaker that the tank’s stop had been planned in advance, and was a rehearsal for any emergency situation that might happen during the parade, a Russian newspaper reported.
The parade will feature flyovers from military helicopters and jets, a march-past of 16,000 troops, and the procession of missile systems, including a version of the BUK system many believe was used to bring down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over east Ukraine last year.
Most Western leaders are staying away in protest at Russia’s actions in Ukraine, though German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Moscow tomorrow to lay a wreath at a war memorial.
The British Foreign Office announced on Thursday that Britain would be represented at the parade by British Member of Parliament Nicholas Soames, a former defense minister and a grandson of Britain’s World War II-era prime minister, Winston Churchill.
“The commemorations mark the joint struggle of our two countries against Nazism and the sacrifice of our brave soldiers and civilians who lost their lives fighting for our freedom,” a British Foreign Office spokesperson said. “As grandson of Britain’s wartime prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Nicholas has a unique link to the Second World War alliance between Britain and Russia.”
The Kremlin had been expecting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to attend, in what would have been his first foreign trip as leader, but the Kremlin announced last week that he would not be traveling because of “internal Korean affairs.”
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