The war in Ukraine has resulted in several embarrassments for President Putin and the
Kremlin.
From the infamous 40-mile-long Russian military convoy holdup near Kyiv because of logistic
issues to the sinking of the Slava class cruiser Moskva which was the flagship of Black Sea
fleet , things haven't gone the way Russia would have wanted.
But this is not all, there is more humiliation to endure.
Ukrainian armed forces struck a Russian Armored Unit this week in the north-eastern Ukrainian
region of Kharkiv Oblast.
The important part is that in that assault , a T-90M Proryv-3 (Breakthrough-3) got knocked
out.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why destruction of T-90M Main Battle Tank in Ukraine
is very bad news for Russia? Let's get into the details.
On May 2, the
Ukrainian military released drone footage showing strikes on the Russian Armored Unit.
The Command of the Special Operations Forces (SSO) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)
said, “In the Kharkiv region, during reconnaissance
operations, our soldiers discovered clusters of enemy equipment, including heavy armored
and lightly armored vehicles. An hour after the priority targets for the strike were determined,
soldiers of the Resistance Movement coordinated a unit of one of the artillery brigades and
adjusted the fire on enemy targets.”
It was added, “As a result of joint work of soldiers of
the Defense Forces of Ukraine, the losses of the Russians amounted to, T-90 tank – destroyed.
T-80BVM tank – destroyed. MTLB – destroyed. MTLB – damaged"
This claims were confirmed on May 4 after Illia Ponomarenko, The Kyiv Independent’s
defense reporter who shared an image on social media of what seems to be the remains of a
destroyed T-90M tank
Andriy Tsaplienko is seen reporting in the foreground.
This represents the first confirmed loss of this variant.
The Uralvagonzavod designed T-90M is an upgraded version of the T-90 Tank, first introduced
in the early 1990s as an offshoot of the T-72, featuring improvements in terms of protection,
mobility, and firepower.
As per reports , upgrades to the tank were made from the combat experience of the Russian
Armed forces gained in Syria. The Russian Army tested it during the military exercise
Zapad-2017.
The initial batch of production T-90M tanks were only issued to the 2nd Guards M. I. Kalinin
Taman Motor Rifle Division of the 1st Guards Tank Army in the spring of 2020.
So, it is a pretty new machine. Estimates indicate that around 100 of these
are currently in service in total.
Since the much hyped but still not serial produced T-14 Armata Main Battle Tanks are
unavailable for combat duties, T-90M is currently the potent Russian tank in service.
Many technical advances have been incorporated in the T-90M.
1. It has improved armor protection with Relikt built-in Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) in
place of the previous Kontakt-5. Relikt is designed to better protect against shaped
charges and significantly reduce the impact of the impact armor-piercing fin-stabilized
discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds. 2. T-90M features net armor on the lower part
of its turret and slat armor at its rear to improve its defenses against rocket-propelled
grenades by disrupting the fusing of the warhead. 3. The tank also has a countermeasures system,
which triggers smoke grenade launchers that can help conceal the vehicle if it is being
illuminated by a laser beam. This reduces the probability of being hit by enemy anti-tank
guided weapons. 4. It is fitted with NBC (Nuclear, Biological
& Chemical) protection and automatic fire suppression systems. The tank’s interior
is lined with spall liner to stop projectiles and small fragments and minimize the damage
inside the vehicle in case of a hit by a lethal armament which couldn't be completely stopped.
5. The T-90M features an improved 2A46M-4 125mm smoothbore main gun, which has a longer
range and is said to be 15-20% more accurate than the standard 2A46M gun of the T-90. The
gun can fire APFSDS, HE, and HE-FRAG rounds, plus the 9M119 Refleks anti-tank guided missiles
that have a range of 5 km or 3.1 miles and can also engage low-flying helicopters.
6. The sensor and fire control systems have also been upgraded . The new Russian Tank
has a hunter-killer engagement capability.
All said, these upgrades do not appear to make much difference and the T-90M doesn't
seem to fare better than its predecessors.
Russia's most advanced operational tank getting destroyed on Ukrainian soil is a disaster
at multiple levels.
This is not just a battlefield loss but also has much larger implications.
It is fair to say that the Russian military’s image has taken a beating since the so-called
'Special Operation' started and this will add to that.
Russia is one of the top arms suppliers and this kind of incident will certainly create
a very negative image of its hardware which will make future export deals much more difficult
to come by.
The incident also reflects Moscow’s increasing willingness to commit such high-end materiel
in this battle in order to gain an edge as it tries to get a decisive breakthrough in
the eastern Donbas region.
The news will be a major morale booster for the Ukrainian force as they will know that
even the most advanced Russian weapons are not invincible.