WASHINGTON, June 17. /TASS/. US army commander in Europe, Lt-Gen Frederick Ben Hodges said in a telephone conversation with a TASS correspondent on Tuesday he is impressed by Russia’s newest Armata tank.

"The new Armata tank looks like a very impressive tank," Hodges said.

Armata is a heavy unified platform serving as a base for a tank and an infantry combat vehicle. The new tanks have received unmanned turrets, all digital control and isolated armored crew capsules. The key armament of Armata is a 125-mm gun, but the use of a 152-mm gun is not ruled out in the future. Earlier Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said an Armata shell "burns a meter of steel."

The Armata tanks were showcased during the Victory Parade in Moscow on May 9, 2015. These are experimental prototypes that returned to their manufacturing plant for improvement and later tests in troops, which are to be held in 2016. Serial production of Armatas is expected to start in 2017-2018.