by JOSEPH TREVITHICK

On May 9, Russia paraded its brand-new Armata armored vehicles through Red Square during the annual celebration of the country’s victory over Germany during World War II.

The parade is an annual event, but the new family of vehicles — and their radical designs — made it a once-in-every-few-decades moment for Russia military geeks.

The Kremlin rolled out a fleet of new armored beasts including the T-14 tank, T-15 infantry fighting vehicle, Kurganets-25 armored personnel carrier and Bumerang wheeled vehicle.

But on the 70th anniversary of the Nazi surrender, one heavily-armed Russian vehicle was noticeably absent from the procession — the BMPT Terminator.

While Russian defense companies are still toying with this so-called “tank combat support vehicle,” the Kremlin could have decided to ditch the vehicle in favor of the T-15.

“Russia’s recent announcement that the Armata heavy track chassis would be entering field trials … has fueled some speculation,” Charles Bartles, an analyst at the U.S. Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office, wrote in the May edition of OE Watch. “One idea is that the BMPT Terminator could be reborn.”

But the Russians are “probably looking at … a much more versatile solution,” Steven Zaloga, a senior analyst at the Teal Group and expert on armored vehicles, told War Is Boring. “[The T-15] pretty much satisfies the requirement that BMPT does.”

In development since 2009, Russian tank maker Uralvagonzavod expected the Armata family to include a tank, personnel carrier, self-propelled howitzer, rocket launcher and other variants … all with a common chassis.

So far, only the T-14 tank and T-15 fighting vehicle prototypes appear to have made it into limited production.

The storied design bureau — which traces its history to the creation of the Stalin Ural Tank Factory No. 183 in the city of Nizhny Tagil in 1941 — also cooked up the BMPT in the past decade.

Appropriately nicknamed “the Terminator,” these fearsome vehicles sport a turret with two 30-millimeter cannons and four Ataka missile launchers. Further, the BMPT has a 7.62-millimeter machine gun next to the main guns and two AG-17D automatic grenade launchers in the hull.

The Terminator absolutely bristles with weapons. Because why not?