How good is Russia's new fearsome new T-90M
tank?
Here are the details.
Key point:
Moscow's new tanks are modernized and more capable than previous
versions. However, it remains to be seen how many Russia decides to
produce.
The Russian army will receive its first new T-90M tanks as part of a
batch of 400 armored vehicles heading for the ground-combat branch in 2019.
The T-90M, arguably Russia’s most advanced front-line tank, is a
modernized version of a vehicle that first entered service in 1993.
"This year, over 400 new and upgraded armored vehicles are due to
arrive for the troops,” Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said on June 4,
2019.
“They include T-72B3M tanks with the domestic sighting and observation
system, T-90M Proryv-3 and T-80BVM tanks and BMP-1AM infantry fighting
vehicles," Shoigu said.
"In addition, the factory [Uralvagonzavod] is developing the T-15
newest infantry fighting vehicle based on the Armata platform and featuring the
Kinzhal combat module and a 57-millimeter gun. The vehicle’s prototype will be
featured at the [Army-2019] international military and technical forum in
June.”
Shoigu did not say how many of the 400 new vehicles would be T-90Ms, but
state media organization TASS earlier in 2019 reported that the army
this year would receive a “battalion set” of the tanks, or around 40 vehicles.
The Russian army fields around 40 combat brigades, each with one battalion
of tanks.
The T-90M features a new engine and the latest version of the Relikt
explosive reactive armor kit. The T-90M “considerably surpassed” the older
T-90A in “combat efficiency” during the Zapad-2017 war game, the press office
of Uralvagonzavod told TASS.
The Kremlin has prioritized the T-90M over the more ambitious Armata
tank, a highly sophisticated but less reliable vehicle. The Russian army, like
the U.S. Army, has had better luck gradually upgrading its main fighting
vehicles than it has inventing brand-new replacement vehicles.
The American ground combat branch in 2019 has begun fielding the M-1A2C
version of its iconic M-1 tank, the original model of which entered service in
the early 1980s.
The T-90 actually is a development of the older T-72. The T-72/90 family
of tanks is simpler to build, support and operate than is the contemporary, but
more sophisticated, T-64/80 family of tanks.
The Russian army deploys a mixed force of T-72s, -80s and -90s. Russian
factories continue to churn out upgraded versions of each type of tank. On the
balance, Russian armored forces “significantly” have improved since 2010, the
U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency explained in a 2016 report.
Since 2010, there have been significant improvements in the condition of
Russian ground arms, including the modernization and upgrade of the main battle
tank (MBT) inventory. The active inventory includes the T-72, T-80U and T-90
MBTs. The T-72 is one of Russia’s oldest active MBTs and has been upgraded to
include substantial enhancements in explosive reactive armor, electronic
components and enhanced navigation systems. Russia’s newest in-service MBT, the
T-90, features the new Sonsa-U sighting systems and Shtora soft-kill active
protection system. While Russia’s ministry of defense planned to phase out the
T-80, the Omsk Transport Machine-Building Plant, one of Russia’s two MBT
production and modernization facilities, is planning to upgrade the T-80U with
Sosna-U, Relikt third-generation dynamic protection complex and advanced radio
and [command and control] systems.
David Axe serves as Defense Editor of the National Interest. He is
the author of the graphic novels War Fix, War Is Boring and Machete Squad. This first appeared earlier in 2019.
Image:
Reuters.