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Some relatively somber news regarding the T-14 lads... Youtube.com
It seems that procurement numbers are going to be reasonably low due to a heavy focus on IADS and VVS rearmament, as well as Naval investment. In the meantime it probably means we get to see some really nice innovation concerning T-80s, T-90s, and of course, T-72s. While there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the T-14, on the contrary its a few leagues ahead of anyone else currently, it seems that financial constraints are going to limit just how any of them we see within the decade... of course this is all heavily dependent on the Russian economy recovering at its current rate, rather than accelerating dramatically, which is very much a possibility in today's geopolitical climate.
... Just an update for anyone interested, and a picture stolen from Spacebattles.
im guessing its more along the lines of preparing for a possible war with the west given how the west is badly suffering from a case of the cray crays :/
A simple analogy is the English .455 Webley Fosberry automatic pistols in WW1 which were supposed to replace the older Webley revolvers.
The automatic was clearly a step ahead in terms of firepower but in 1913 with war on the horizon the British military
"British Army as the Navy loved the dam things"
decided to stick with the cheaper and battle proven revolvers as they were a hell of alot more easier and cheaper to field en mass to troops going to / in active combat operations.
I suspect the Russians are basically hedging their bets as a just in case insurance policy should **** really hit the fan and NATO do something incredibly stupid like advancing onto Russian territory with out 1st properly acquiring a tourist visa ...
Remember kids in the end of the day war always was and always will be a numbers game and he who has more will usually 90% of the time win in the long run.
Nazi Germany VS the USSRs deep operations tactics are a brilliant albeit brutal examples of this.
I think a large factor at play is that much of Russia's current hardware is still very capable compared to its contemporaries, so there isn't a desperate need to procure massive amounts of next-generation hardware rapidly. A similar approach can be seen with the PAK-FA...
Avoiding an F-35 like catastrophe is probably also high on the priority list, producing thousands of defective pieces of equipment is extremely costly, so ramping production up slowly is the best way to avoid such long-term issues, admittedly at the expense of manufacturing cost.
War with NATO Europe is still a distinct possibility, although I feel tensions have decreased a lot since 2014. At the same time, Russia has to be prepared for conventional warfare should it occur, with limited to no use of nuclear weaponry, so as to avoid MAD. This is not so much in case of an assault on Russian territory, which they're well prepared for, but more to do with immediate projection into neighboring regions in the event of another Euro-US backed Maidan-style adventure, which may this time be more forceful, and lead to direct engagements between BLUFOR and REDFOR (I can't see Russia letting another one happen).
Anyway, I essentially just re-stated what you said. I think you're pretty spot-on in other words.