MOSCOW - Russia is developing a new advanced gun system for tanks based on the Armata heavy military tracked vehicle platform, the Defence Ministry’s thematic bulletin said on Tuesday.

"The armament of domestically-produced tanks is based on a 125-mm smooth-bore gun. Over the past 40 years, this piece of hardware has undergone a number of changes as part of modernization aimed at boosting its tactical and technical characteristics. Currently, the work on developing a gun with increased energy efficiency for prospective tank Armata is underway,” the Missile-Technical and Artillery-Technical Support of the Russian Armed Forces-2018 bulletin said.

In late December, the Defence Ministry announced that state trials of Russia's T-14 Armata battle tank were scheduled to begin in 2019.

T-14 is the world's only post-war third-generation tank. It has an unmanned remote-controlled turret, while the crew is protected by an armoured capsule. Its weapons include a 125-mm smooth-bore cannon and a 7.62-mm remote-controlled machine gun.

At the fourth Army-2018 international defence forum in August, the ministry signed a deal on purchasing 132 next generation T-14 battle tanks and T-15 heavy infantry fighting vehicles based on the Armata military tracked vehicle platform. The deal is expected to be fully implemented by late 2021.