Serbia, an EU candidate, sent an elite guards regiment to Moscow to take part in the May 9 parade.
The BBC reports that 15 Russian and 1300 foreign troops will participate in the May 9 parade, and samples of new weapons will be on display, including cutting-edge weapons such as the Armata T-14 tank, the T-50 fighter jet, and the S-400 air defense system.
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Russia will present a new generation battle tank called the Armata T-14 during a parade dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War.
The tank is one of several new weapons systems that will be on display in the huge May 9th parade.
The Russian Ministry of Defense published photographs of new military equipment taken during a rehearsal. It is expected to be one of the largest parades ever held on May 9th. It will include 15 thousand Russian troops, 1300 foreign troops, including Serbian elite units, a Chinese honor guard and Indian grenadiers, about 200 armored vehicles, and 150 combat aircraft.
The Armata T-14 tank, reports the BBC, is a new product in tank production. It has a completely uninhabited turret, a 125mm smoothbore cannon that can fire guided missiles as well as projectiles. The crew has better protection than existing Russian tanks. They will be placed in a reinforced chamber, away from the gun.
The tank chassis is designed as a platform for other weapon systems, armored personnel carriers, armored vehicles, etc. The Armata can turn into a fully robotic tank. Russia plans to increase the number of such tanks to 2300 by 2020.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reports the BBC, will not be at the May 9th parade itself, but will visit Moscow the next day. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier plans to travel to Volgograd (Stalingrad) on May 7. Nazi troops were defeated there in one of the bloodiest battles in history.
Serbia, an EU candidate, sent an elite guards regiment to Moscow on Monday to take part in the parade. They will be among several foreign contingents at the parade. Chinese and Indian military personnel will also take part there.