What engine costs on the t 90. How much does the tank weigh?

At the time of the collapse of the USSR, the Russian military was not a priority and fell under reduced income. Many promising projects were either postponed indefinitely or canceled altogether. During the Cold War, the Soviet Army enjoyed the prospect of two MBTs at once, starting with the introduction of the T-64 in 1963, which was later complemented by the T-72 in 1971. Both projects had an automatic loader and a large-caliber smoothbore main gun. The T-64 was designed as a vehicle with many new technologies, and was therefore a very expensive and difficult to manufacture main tank. Soviet army, while the T-72 was created as a cheaper one, intended mainly for export to friendly countries. This ultimately led to the T-72 gaining worldwide fame and many modifications due to it, while the T-64 was restricted to the Soviet Army due to its "state secret" status.

Therefore, the creation of a vehicle that combined the strengths of the T-64 and T-72 began, which was the new MBT under the designation T-80, which entered service in 1976 and became the main tank of the Soviet Army until the collapse of the USSR. It was notable for its gas turbine engine, which produced very high power, exceeding that of traditional diesel engines. However, reliability was far from perfect, fuel consumption was excessively high, and it was too difficult to manufacture.

Understanding the instability and low budget of its new country, the Russian authorities began to make decisions about the advantages and disadvantages of existing MBTs in order to begin production of the most successful solution, since it was irrational to produce and maintain all existing models. The idea arose to modernize the T-72, taking the most successful key qualities from the T-80 in order to get a modern and truly formidable tank.

Evolution

The fire control system is from the T-80, the body is from the T-72, the preserved automatic loader, which has proven its effectiveness in numerous armed conflicts, as well as the time-tested and battle-tested 125 mm smoothbore gun. This symbiosis of the most powerful and proven solutions of domestic tank building became a prototype called the T-88. After testing and the decision to install a reliable, unpretentious and economical diesel engine with an output of 830 hp, the T-90 was born, incorporating all the best from its predecessors and being their evolution.

Small-scale production began in 1993, gradually increasing until 1995, when full-scale production was established at the Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil. Since then, about 1,670 units have been produced for Russia and some countries around the world.

Device in general

Like its predecessors, the T-90 has a very low profile, thanks to a two-man turret that houses the commander on the right and the gunner on the left. The carousel autoloader has been improved over the decades, is located in the turret on the floor of the hull and allows for a rate of fire of up to 8 rounds per minute. Like previous Soviet MBTs, the T-90 can fire missiles from the barrel of its main gun, which allows it to fight air and any ground targets. The driver is located in the front, in the center of the hull, with the turret immediately behind him. The engine is moved to the rear compartment and separated from the crew. The chassis is traditional, with torsion bar suspension, six road wheels with external rubber coating and three support rollers with internal shock absorption, with a drive wheel at the rear.

Armored hull

The upper frontal part is located low and strongly angled for additional protection from enemy fire. Similarly, the turret has a very squat shape with strong angles of inclination, providing powerful protection against shells that hit the tank. The commander has his own turret with all-round visibility, while the gunner controls the turret and has his own hatch for entry/exit. The armor consists of a mixture of steel and composite materials, with built-in Kontakt-5 dynamic protection added to it, protecting against damage from cumulative and sub-caliber projectiles. Its blocks are attached to the front and side parts of the hull, as well as to the turret. Side screens are standard on all modifications.

Equipment

The armor, fire control system and missile defense remained from the T-80. Equipment for night vision and nuclear, biological and chemical defense systems has become standard. The Shtora-1 anti-missile countermeasures suite is an additional option that is almost always installed and can counter laser-guided systems. The fire control system is completely digital and can be guided by both a thermal imager and a laser rangefinder. All this allows you to shoot on the move, even in conditions of limited visibility. A bucket blade is hidden under the nose of the hull, which can be used to overcome various obstacles; a mine trawl can also be attached to the tank.

Armament

The gun, which came to the T-90 from its predecessors, uses various types of projectiles. The ammunition consists of separately loaded shots of the following types: armor-piercing sub-caliber, armor-piercing cumulative, armor-piercing high-explosive and with a guided missile. A total of 42 shells. Secondary weapons include a 7.62 caliber coaxial machine gun with 2,000 rounds of ammunition and an anti-aircraft machine gun with all-round fire and 300 rounds of ammunition. Two blocks of geared rocket launchers allow you to set up your own smoke screen for concealment. Additionally, diesel fuel can be injected into the exhaust for an alternative or thicker smoke screen - distinguishing feature many Soviet tanks.

Mobility

Initially, the power plant for the T-90 was a V-12 V-84 with 840 hp. Later the tank was modernized and received a V-92 diesel engine with a power of 950 hp. The latest versions use the B-96 engine with 1250 hp. The seven-speed gearbox and torsion bar suspension are designed to provide good mobility and maneuverability in all conditions.

The maximum speed reaches 60-65 km/h on the highway. Power reserve 550 km, 700 km. with external tanks. Off-road - 350 and 520, respectively. Combat weight 46-50 tons. Thrust-to-weight ratio 21.5 l/s t.

Modifications

In the original, the tank was designated T-90. Its export variants were designated T-90E, and the command version export variants were known as T-90K. The first modification, which received the V-92 diesel engine, a welded turret and the Essa TPV night complex, became the T-90A and was offered for export under the designation T-90S and, in the command version, T-90SK.

The T-90 was modernized in 1996 and received a modular dynamic protection system "Relic" in place with a modified layout composite armor, becoming the T-90M. A new V-96 engine with a power of 1250 hp, a cannon, turret mount and TPV were installed. GPS navigation has become standard. After its adoption, it received the name T-90MS.

Several different vehicles were created on the basis of the T-90, namely BMR-3M, BREM-1M, TOS-1A Solntsepek, IMR-3M, MTU-90, Frame and E300.

Combat use

There is controversial information that the T-90 was probably tested by fire during the Second Chechen War in August 1999. During the conflict, the T-80 showed its limited capabilities in urban combat, in which Chechen partisans, using short strike tactics with anti-tank systems, disabled about 200 tanks in just one month. The T-80 was designed for aggressive combat on level ground, so careful combat in tight streets was not its thing. strong point. In addition, Russian tank crews were poorly trained and did not have effective support.

On August 7, 1999, the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade, which included al-Qaeda fighters, invaded the Russian Republic of Dagestan to begin the Second Chechen war. The Russian army, having taken into account its mistakes of the first war in time, sent tanks as part of the troops providing mutual cover and support. There is practically no data on participation in these hostilities, except for a couple of documents containing recommendations for eliminating the shortcomings of the T-90 based on the results of hostilities.

Several videos have appeared online, such as a TOW hit on a T-90, during which the armor of the Russian vehicle withstood the impact and saved the lives of the crew.

Another video has also become known, which shows a burning T-90. Most likely, the fire was caused by a fire in the explosive reactive armor unit, which spread to the roof, causing the machine gun cartridges to become hot and begin to detonate. This version is the most likely, since there is no usual filming of an ATGM launch, no video of the tank being hit, and the fire itself comes out of only one hatch.

Epilogue

Now the tank continues to serve faithfully and receives modifications, for example, the T-90SM, which is in some sense a transitional stage to the newest T-14 Armata, and is equal the best examples Western armored vehicles.

The T-90 is exported to India, where it is in great demand, as well as to Algeria, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Of course, it also has disadvantages, but most of them are caused by the classic layout and are inherent in most MBTs of this time.

Only a fundamentally new tank like the already mentioned T-14 Armata can completely eliminate them, but for now the T-90 is successfully fulfilling all the tasks assigned to it.

The T-90AM Proryv tank and its export version T-90SM are the latest modification of the T-90A. Work to improve it began in 2004. For the first time, a prototype of the T-90AM tank was presented at the beginning of September 2011 in Nizhny Tagil at the Staratel military training ground. The display of new military equipment was held as part of the XIII international exhibition REA-2011.

Enhancement Details

T-90AM, the characteristics of which are now available only in general outline, was created on the basis of the T-90 tank. The developer of the new product was Uralvagonzavod. The main object of modernization of the vehicle turned out to be the old turret, which was replaced with the latest combat module with an improved Kalina fire control system, which has a combat integrated information and control system for the tactical level. In addition, the T-90AM (photos are presented in the article) is equipped with a modernized 2A46M-5 cannon, a new automatic loader and a remote-controlled T05BV-1 UDP. They also replaced the Kontakt-V with the Relikt remote sensing device.

The developers paid special attention to increasing the commander’s ability to control fire and search for targets equally effectively regardless of the time of day. For the first time, the Russian T-90AM tank was equipped with steering wheel controls and an automatic gear shift system. It makes it possible to switch to manual mode as soon as the need arises.

The T-90AM vehicle has ammunition with two stowage groups - one outside and the other inside. In this case, 22 shots are located in the lower part of the hull, in the AZ, and the rest, as well as the charges for them, are in a special armored box, which is located at the stern of the turret. Specialists took care of improving the maneuverability and mobility of the T-90AM (SM) tank. For this purpose, the latest combined night vision devices were installed, as well as a television camera for rear view of the area.

The new T-90AM Proryv tank weighs 48 tons, which is one and a half tons more than the base model, but at the same time significantly less than its German or American counterparts. This machine is equipped with a V-93 monoblock power unit with a power of 1130 hp. pp., developed on the basis of the V-92S2F2. It was also decided to replace the anti-neutron cap with a more reliable anti-fragmentation fire-resistant material like Kivlar and improve the fire extinguishing system.

Summing up the results of the modernization, we can say that the mobility and security of the T-90AM tank have noticeably improved, while the dimensions have remained virtually unchanged, so it still remains in the class of combat vehicles up to 50 tons.

Comparison of military equipment

It is no secret that many are concerned about the effectiveness of the latest Russian tanks compared to foreign analogues. For example, let's take the American M1 Abrams. But in order to compare two combat vehicles, you should know that situations where they come face to face on the battlefield practically do not exist in our time.

In modern combat conditions, in order to survive, the tank crew will have to fight with various enemies, ranging from infantry equipped anti-tank missiles, and ending with airplanes and helicopters. But despite this, experts are constantly trying to compare the same class with each other. At the same time, some of them believe that a theoretical comparison of tanks is impossible in principle, since even real fighting will not give a final answer to the question of who is better. Here it will be necessary to take into account a lot of other criteria, such as tactics of use, vehicle maintenance, level of crew training, interaction of various military units, etc. All this can be much more important than the technical characteristics of the tanks themselves.

Comparison of T-90 and Abrams

Before you begin to compare the technical characteristics of these combat vehicles, it is necessary to take into account that the T-90 tank was developed 20 years ago, and since then it has been modernized several times. Naturally, everyone new sample differed significantly from the previous one both structurally and in terms of combat effectiveness. The same thing happened with the Abrams tank, which entered service. American army in 1980. Therefore, it makes sense to compare all their parameters too meticulously only for specific modifications that were released in the same period of time.

Technical characteristics and other parameters Russian tank It is almost impossible to compare the T-90AM against the M1A2 Abrams due to the highest level of secrecy surrounding this military equipment. It is only known that the armor of the turrets in their front part is made in a similar way - packages of so-called reflective sheets are installed in the pockets on the frontal armor.

Use of equipment in combat conditions

The American Abrams tank was already used in the Iraqi military operation Desert Storm. As for the Russian vehicle, its participation in hostilities has not yet been documented. Although some experts suggest that the T-90 tank was already tested during the First and Second Chechen Companies in both Chechnya and Dagestan. Others claim that these cars were spotted in August 2008 on the territory of South Ossetia during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.

For example, some means mass media then it was reported that the T-90 was seen during the withdrawal of Russian troops from Gori (Georgia). But so far there is no direct evidence of this fact. In addition, the T-90 tank, the characteristics of which will be compared with the American Abrams below, is similar in appearance to the T-72B, which has the Kontakt dynamic protection, which could have caused the error in its identification.

For now, it is impossible to determine exactly how the T-90AM tank will perform in real combat conditions, since it has not yet been used anywhere.

Design comparison

It should be noted that the United States and the Soviet Union, and subsequently Russia, have always had completely different approaches to the design of military equipment. It is clearly visible that the American M1 tank is much larger in size than the T-90. It was possible to achieve a reduction in the dimensions of the vehicle by eliminating the loader, who needs approximately 1.7 m from the height of the fighting compartment to perform his duties. The result of this was the removal of the restriction on reducing the level of the tank. In addition, a more dense layout made it possible to create a reliably protected vehicle with a relatively low weight and low silhouette, as well as a small cross-sectional and longitudinal sectional area.

The result of such transformations is the fact that the reserved volume of the Abrams is 19, and the T-90 is 11 cubic meters. But a denser layout also has its downsides. They are some cramped tank crew and the difficulty of interchangeability of each other if necessary.

Protection comparison

Many may think that if the Abrams is much heavier, then the armor on it is thicker, and therefore more reliable. This is not entirely true. Reducing the armored internal volume helped reduce the weight of the armor on the T-90 tank, which provided the required level of external protection. Due to the fact that the dimensions of the frontal projection of the Russian vehicle are only 5 m², and that of the Abrams - 6, it becomes less vulnerable, since the likelihood of such a hit in this particular part of the equipment is very high.

The Russian tank is equipped with “reflective sheets” made of steel, and the Abrams, starting with a certain modification, is equipped with this material. This material has a high density (19.03 g/cm³), therefore, with a relatively small plate thickness, it ensured literally explosive destruction cumulative jet.

The T-90 tank, in addition to the traditional one, also has a complex of dynamic protection. This is not the case on most modifications of the Abrams. "Kontakt-5" is a dynamic protection for Russian tanks that works against both armor-piercing sabot charges and cumulative weapons. This complex delivers a strong lateral impulse, which allows you to destroy or at least destabilize the BPOS core before the impact on the main armor begins.

According to Russian manufacturers, frontal armor The T-90A tank can easily withstand hits from the BOPS most commonly used in the West. For this purpose, a special experimental demonstration was carried out. The T-90 tank, whose characteristics were tested back in 1995 at the Kubinka training ground, was fired upon by another vehicle. 6 Russian cumulative shells were fired at it from a distance of about 200 m. As a result of the shelling, it turned out that the frontal armor successfully passed the tests, and the tank was able to independently reach the observation deck.

In turn, American officials stated that the frontal armor of their M1A1 vehicle also successfully withstood the fire that the Iraqi military fired at them from T-72 tanks. True, these were outdated BOPS, removed from service in the early 70s. last century.

Comparison of weapons and ammunition

As you know, the main weapon of this military equipment is a cannon. The Russian vehicle has a 125 mm 2A46M/2A46M5 smoothbore tank gun. The Abrams is armed with the standard NATO 120mm M256 cannon. As you can see, there is some difference in caliber, but despite this, both guns have similar characteristics. However, it is worth noting that the effectiveness of tank fire directly depends on the ammunition used.

The Russian T-90 Proryv tank can also probably fire using four types of ammunition: high-explosive fragmentation, armor-piercing sub-caliber, cumulative rounds and guided missiles. The Abrams has a standard set consisting of only two types of ammunition: cumulative and armor-piercing sub-caliber.

To combat enemy equipment, they mainly use the somewhat outdated BOPS ZBM-44 and ZBM-32, which have cores made of tungsten and uranium alloys. Not long ago, more advanced shells were developed that could withstand the frontal armor of the best Western tanks. Among them is the ZBM-48 “Lead”.

The main ammunition of the Abrams is considered to be the M829A3 round with an armor-piercing sabot projectile, which was put into service in 2003.

Comparison of power plants

It must be said right away that both cars are fundamentally different. The T-90A and T-90SA tanks have a 1000-horsepower diesel engine, while the Abrams has a 1500-horsepower engine made in one unit with a hydromechanical automatic transmission. The specific engine power of the T-90 and Abrams is 21 and 24 hp, respectively. s./t. The Russian car has a significantly greater range (550 km) than the American one (350 km). This was achieved due to the increased efficiency of the diesel engine compared to the more insatiable gas turbine.

The T-90 power plant has another very important advantage - it is high reliability and unpretentiousness. Take, for example, the testing of cars in the Indian Thar desert, where not a single engine failure was recorded. Concerning American tanks M1A1, which participated in Operation Desert Storm, then in the three days that they were moving through the sands, out of 58 units, 16 failed. And all this happened due to damage to the engines. If we compare the labor intensity of maintenance of the engines of these machines, then to replace it, teams of qualified technicians will need: the Russian one - 6, and the American one - only 2 hours.

The disadvantage of the transmission of Russian cars is the rather low reverse speed - only 4.8 km/h, while American technology it reaches 30 km/h due to the installation of a hydrostatic transmission on them. The fact is that mass-produced T-90 tanks are equipped with a mechanical transmission based on an already outdated design of the turning mechanism, where its responsibilities are assigned to stepped onboard gearboxes. The Abrams is equipped with a hydrostatic transmission, as well as turning mechanisms with a digital automatic control system.

Overall rating

Based on the available data on the technical and other characteristics of the T-90 and Abrams tanks, we can conclude that the main advantages of the Russian vehicle compared to the American one are:

• good protection, including the dynamic system “Contact”, as well as the KOEP “Shtora-1”;
• availability of firing at a target with guided missiles at a distance of up to 5 thousand m;
• a larger number of types of ammunition, which include HE shells (including those with ready-made striking parts and remote detonation);
• excellent rate of fire, which is maintained throughout the battle, ensured by the use of A3;
• decent depth for overcoming water obstacles, good range and excellent mobility;
• unpretentiousness and high reliability during operation.

Abrams also has its merits. This:

• durable protection;
• automation of battle management tools, which provides an influx of various data in real time;
• reliable isolation of the crew from the location of the ammunition;
• good maneuverability;
• high level of power density.

Expert opinion

In 2012, an article by V. Stepanov, who is a Doctor of Technical Sciences and General Director of OJSC VNIItransmash, was published in the press. It talked about the analysis of methods for comparative assessment of the technical characteristics of tanks. And, first of all, here were estimates of the military-technical level (MTL) of the best combat vehicles, including the Russian T-90A and T-90MS, as well as M1A2 and M1A2 SEP.

VTU was calculated based on several indicators: security, operational capability, firepower and mobility. Then all of the above vehicles with a certain reference tank. He chose the T-90A, which means that its VTU = 1.0. The data of the American M1A2 and M1A2 SEP vehicles were estimated at 1.0 and 1.32, respectively. The VTU indicator of the new T-90MS Tagil tank was determined as 1.42. The calculations performed may have a slight error of no more than 10%. From this we can conclude that there is a real closeness between the levels of the best foreign analogues with the Russian T-90A and its modernized model - the T-90AM tank.

The T-90 was also successful in the international arena - today it is the most commercially successful and best-selling Russian tank in the world. Currently, the T-90 is in export version in service with India, Algeria, Uganda, and Turkmenistan. As of 2012, the total production of T-90s was at least 1,335 tanks.

The history of the T-90 began under the USSR - in the mid-80s. Then a completely sensible idea prevailed in the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Ministry of Defense Industry (MOD) of the USSR about the need to develop a single promising main tank for the entire Soviet Army. With its adoption, an extremely distinctive period of Soviet tank building was supposed to end, when factories were simultaneously producing two or three types of main tanks - T-64, T-72 and T-80. They were similar in combat characteristics, but differed significantly in design, which extremely complicated the process of their operation among the troops due to the de-standardization of the tank fleet. In accordance with the Government Decree “On measures to create a new tank” issued on February 7, 1986, the Kharkov T-80UD was to serve as the basis for it. It was an improved “eighty” with a compact two-stroke diesel engine 6TD instead of the expensive and power-hungry gas turbine GTD-1000. Gradually, the T-80UD would replace other types of tanks in the army.

It was assumed that the “highlight” of the promising vehicle would be only the computerized control system for units and subunits, which was then becoming fashionable, and brought down to a separate tank. However, while the promising tank was just a “pie in the sky”, the question arose of what to do with the “birds in the hand” - the numerous main tanks available in the troops, combat characteristics which no longer met the requirements of the time. This primarily applied to the T-72 early modifications. It is no secret that this tank was a variant of a combat vehicle for the mobilization period, and its design was simplified as much as possible for mass production and operation by poorly trained personnel.

This is partly why the “seventy-two” were widely supplied abroad to Middle Eastern and African countries, and licenses for their production were sold to the Warsaw Pact allies - Poland and Czechoslovakia. The main disadvantage of the T-72 was considered its primitive, although reliable, 1A40 sighting system, which is no longer ensured the effective fire required from modern tanks. The fact is that although the 1A40 complex measured the range to the target and determined the lateral lead angles (for a moving target), however, the introduction of corrections to the aiming angle for: deviation of the ambient air temperature, charge temperature, atmospheric pressure from normal, as well as to fall initial speed As a result of wear of the cannon bore, the projectile had to be inserted only manually before firing. The instructions described the introduction of amendments as follows: “The tank commander, if information is available (!), determines the amendments using the nomograms located on the right side of the gun panel and transmits the resulting value to the gunner.” Those. almost “hand to eye”.

It was necessary to “pull up” the characteristics of the “seventy-two” to a level not lower than the T-80U and, first of all, increase firepower. It must be said that such events of the Soviet defense industry have already been carried out. In the early 80s, a similar program to improve fire efficiency and protection was implemented for the T-55 medium tanks. The result was a modification of the T-55AM, the combat effectiveness of which corresponded to the level of the early T-64 and T-72. To do this, a new sight, laser rangefinder, and ballistic computer were installed on the T-55AM, and some of the vehicles received the Bastion guided weapon system. On July 19, 1986, a Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, which entrusted the Ural Design Bureau of Transport Engineering (UKBTM) with work on the topic “Improving the T-72B”, or, more simply, bringing it to the level of the more advanced Soviet tanks T-80U and T-80UD.

The start of work on this resolution coincided with a change in the management of UKBTM - chief designer V.N. Venediktov, who headed the design bureau for almost two decades after L.N. Kartsev, retired, and V.I. was appointed in his place. Potkin. To increase the firepower of the T-72B it was necessary to equip it with modern, effective system fire control (FCS). To speed up work, reduce the cost of modernization and increase the degree of unification domestic tanks UKBTM designers decided to use the 1A45 Irtysh fire control system, already tested on the T-80U and T-80UD tanks, for the modernized “seventy-two”. It was modified to function together with the automatic loader of the T-72 tank (the loading mechanism of the T-80 was significantly different from the automatic loader of the T-72, in the first the shells were placed horizontally and the charges vertically, in the second - both were horizontal). The modified fire control system was designated 1A45T.

In January 1989, a prototype version of the modernized T-72, which received the internal designation “Object 188,” entered the state testing stage. In various official documents and in external correspondence, the vehicle was referred to first as the T-72BM (modernized), and later as the T-72BU (improved) - in all likelihood, the word “modernized” sounded too simple to the UVZ management. In the USSR, testing new military equipment was taken very seriously. So, in the 70s, to test various types of tanks, runs of up to 10 thousand km along different regions THE USSR. Tankers and designers jokingly called them “star runs.” It was no longer possible to organize such a large-scale event during Gorbachev’s perestroika, but nevertheless four prototypes“Object 188” was tested for about a year in various climatic conditions, including at the Uralvagonzavod testing grounds in Siberia, as well as in the Moscow, Kemerovo and Dzhambul regions. The vehicles, modified based on the test results, were once again driven through testing grounds, and at the end, to determine the level of security, one vehicle was shot.

According to the recollections of A. Bakhmetov, a participant in these tests, at first a landmine corresponding to the most powerful anti-tank mines of foreign countries was placed under one of the tracks, but after the explosion the vehicle was brought back into working order by the crew within the required time, then the tank was subjected to brutal shell fire at “ weak points. The tank successfully passed tests, and on March 27, 1991, by a joint decision of the USSR Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Defense, the “Object 188” was recommended for adoption by the Soviet Army. However, after just six months, neither the Soviet Army nor the Soviet Union, and the prospects for serial production of the improved T-72B have become very vague. However, despite the difficult economic situation, the management of Uralvagonzavod and UKBTM managed to push through the decision to accept the improved T-72 for service already Russian Army. During this struggle for production, in order to emphasize the “Russian” origin of the tank and disassociate itself from the era of the “stagnant” USSR, the idea arose to change the name of the tank from the trivial improved-modernization T-72BU to something more sonorous and original. Initially, the name T-88 was proposed (obviously, by analogy with the object index 188). But fate decreed otherwise.

On October 5, 1992, by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 759-58, “Object 188” was adopted by the Russian Army, but under the name T-90. According to one version, the President of Russia personally ordered that the tank be given this name. The same decree allowed the sale abroad of the export modification of the T-90S. Workplace T-90MS commander: 1 - video viewing device; 2 - multifunctional panel; 3 - all-round viewing prisms; 4 - internal communication and switching equipment; 5 - controls and indications for matching the commander’s sight with prism instruments; 6 - commander's sight control panel; 7 - control panel for the backup sight; 8 - commander's console; 9 - air conditioner cooling unit; 10 - automatic loader loading panel Serial production of the T-90 began at Uralvagonzavod in November of the same year, but, unlike Soviet times, when tanks were produced in the hundreds, the annual production volumes of the T-90 were only in the dozens. The T-90 was the first Russian tank in technological terms. It was necessary to restore production cooperation, destroyed after the collapse of the USSR, within the framework of the Russian defense industry alone. In total, from 1992 to 1998 (when production of the T-90 was suspended), about 120 vehicles were built. And the point here is not that Uralvagonzavod was unable to launch large-scale production, but that the Russian military did not have enough funds to purchase weapons in these troubled times. The first T-90s were sent to a unit stationed closer to the manufacturing plant - the 821st Taganrog Red Banner Order of Suvorov motorized rifle division of the Siberian Military District, where they were formed tank regiment. Later, T-90s also ended up in the 5th Guards Don Tank Division in Buryatia (up to a battalion).

What was the T-90 model of 1992? The tank retained the classic layout of the T-72B with the placement of the control compartment in the frontal part, the fighting compartment in the middle and the engine-transmission compartment in the rear. Compared to the T-72B, the protection was strengthened and an automated fire control complex was installed; the hull and turret were adapted to install a new built-in dynamic protection (EDP). Thanks to the use of an automatic gun loader (A3), the T-90 crew consisted of three people - a driver, a gunner and a commander. The hulls of the T-90 and T-72B were almost identical. But the upper frontal part of the T-90 receives built-in dynamic protection. The turret remained cast with combined armor in the frontal part (at heading angles up to 35 degrees). It also had dynamic protection (DZ) - seven blocks and one container were installed in the frontal part, in addition, 20 blocks were installed on the roof of the tower. Exact data on the effectiveness of the T-90's armor remains classified. However, numerous assessments by both domestic and foreign experts can be found in the public domain. The armor resistance of the frontal projection of the hull and turret against shelling by armor-piercing finned sabot projectiles (BOPS) is assessed in general, taking into account the built-in dynamic protection, as equivalent to 900-950 mm of rolled armor steel (without taking into account the built-in EPS: turret 700 mm; hull - 650 mm) .

The armor resistance of the hull and turret against shelling by cumulative projectiles (CS), taking into account dynamic protection, is estimated at 1350-1450 mm (excluding built-in armor protection: turret - 850 mm; hull -750 mm). Additional protection against damage from T-90 anti-tank guided missiles is provided by the Shtora-1 optical-electronic suppression complex. The T-90 became the first production tank on which it was installed. The Shtora-1 complex includes an optical-electronic suppression station (SOEP) and a curtain installation system (SPS).

Additional protection against damage from T-90 anti-tank guided missiles is provided by the Shtora-1 optical-electronic suppression complex. The T-90 became the first production tank on which it was installed. The Shtora-1 complex includes an optical-electronic suppression station (SOEP) and a curtain installation system (SPS). The main idea of ​​​​the complex’s operation is to generate a signal from the EPDS, similar to the signal from the tracers of Western ATGMs, which entails disruption of their guidance, and also reduces the likelihood of hitting the target with weapons that use laser target illumination. The curtain system achieves the same result by setting a smoke screen.

When irradiation of a tank by laser radiation is detected, the system for setting the curtains determines the direction of irradiation and notifies the crew, after which an aerosol grenade is fired automatically or at the direction of the tank commander, which, when exploded, creates an aerosol cloud that weakens and partially reflects the laser radiation, thereby disrupting the operation of the missile guidance systems. In addition, the aerosol cloud acts as a smoke screen, camouflaging the tank. It should be noted that some experts believe that the installation scheme for jamming searchlights of the Shtora-1 complex on the T-90 was implemented extremely poorly - because of them, a large area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe tower projection in the most threatening sectors of fire was left without dynamic protection units.

The main armament of the T-90 is the 125-mm smoothbore gun 2A46M-2, which is a modification of the 2A46M-1 gun (installed on the T-80U) for the T-72 autoloader. The gun's ammunition, in addition to armor-piercing sub-caliber, cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation projectiles (HEF), also includes 9M119 guided missiles. Thanks to the electromechanical automatic loader, the T-90's combat rate of fire is 6-8 rounds/min. The mechanized circular rotation arrangement includes 22 separate loading shots: the shells are placed horizontally on the bottom of the fighting compartment, under the powder charges. The minimum charging cycle is 6.5-7 seconds, the maximum is 15 seconds. The automatic loader is replenished by the crew in 15-20 minutes.

The 1A45T “Irtysh” fire control system includes the 1A42 fire control system (FCS) and the 9K119 “Reflex” guided weapon system (KW), the TPN-4-4E “Buran-PA” gunner’s night sight and the PNK-4S commander’s sighting and observation system with day/night sight TKN-4S "Agat-S". The 1A42 fire control system includes a 1G46 rangefinder sight, a 1V528-1 electronic ballistic computer and a 2E42-4 stabilizer. The control system available on the T-90 allows you to introduce amendments to the firing parameters, taking into account the tank’s speed, range and angular velocity of the target, temperature, air pressure and wind speed (determined by the DVE-BS sensor), charge temperature, angle of inclination of the gun trunnions and wear of the barrel bore, The 1G46 gunner's day sight has a line of sight stabilized in two planes, a built-in laser rangefinder and a guided missile control channel. The 1B528-1 ballistic computer automatically takes into account signals coming from the following sensors: tank speed, angular speed of the target, roll angle of the gun trunnion axis, transverse component of wind speed, range to the target, heading angle. Additionally, for the calculation, the following parameters are manually entered: ambient air temperature, charge temperature, barrel bore wear, ambient air pressure, etc. Unlike the control system of all Soviet tanks, on the T-90 the ballistic computer performs the functions of a firing permission unit, i.e., when the axis of the barrel bore deviates from the direction given to it more than the threshold, a shot does not occur.

The PNK-4S commander's sighting and observation system consists of a TKN-4S commander's combined sight and a gun position sensor. The TKN-4S combined day-night commander trailer is stabilized in the vertical plane and has three channels: a single day channel, a multiple day channel with a magnification magnification of 8x, and a night channel with a magnification magnification of 5.4x. The 9K119 "Reflex" guided weapon system provides firing at stationary and moving targets at speeds of up to 70 km/h (according to the manufacturer - even helicopters) at ranges of up to 5000 m, at a tank speed of up to 30 km/h, while Firing from the KUV 9K120 mounted on the T-72B could only be done from a standing position. In general, the presence of guided weapons provides the T-90 with a greater effective target engagement range than tanks equipped only with artillery weapons, for which, even with the most modern sighting systems, effective shooting at “tank” type targets at a distance of more than 2500 m is already seriously difficult.

The TPN-4-49 "Buran-PA" gunner's night sight operates in passive mode in natural night illumination of 0.0005 lux and above, while its electro-optical converter amplifies the reflected light of the stars and the moon. When illumination is less than 0.0005 lux, the sight operates in active mode, i.e. when illuminating the area with infrared rays. The T-90 uses infrared emitters of the Shtora-1 optical-electronic suppression system as an infrared illuminator. The T-90 is equipped with a closed anti-aircraft machine gun mount (ZPU) with remote electromechanical control, from which the commander does not need to leave the vehicle to fire. Similar remote-controlled launchers have been installed on the T-64 since the 70s, and later on the T-80, but all previously produced modifications of the T-72 had an open manually controlled launcher, to fire from which the commander had to stick out of his waist up to his waist. hatch. The T-90 of the 1992 model was equipped with a multi-fuel diesel engine V-84MS with a power of 840 hp, developed by the Chelyabinsk Design Bureau "Transdiesel".

The previous version of the B-84, installed on the T-72B, revealed a drawback during operation - overheating and burnout of the exhaust manifolds. Therefore, bellows were installed on the exhaust manifolds of the B-84MS, mixing exhaust gases with atmospheric air, which improved the thermal operating conditions of the collectors and, in addition, reduced the visibility of the tank in the infrared range. The disadvantages of the engine include the significant time required to replace it - a team of qualified technicians needs 6 hours to do this (according to other sources, it takes more longer time), whereas on the American M1A1 Abrams it takes only 2 hours.

With the V-84MS engine, the specific power of the T-90 is 18 hp/t, which by modern standards is considered insufficient; back in Soviet times, a requirement for its minimum value was voiced - at least 20 hp/t. The mechanical planetary transmission remains almost the same as on the T-72B; it provides 7 forward gears and one reverse gear. The machine is turned by engaging a low gear in the gearbox on the side of the lagging track. Due to this outdated turning pattern, the maneuverability of the T-90 is lower than that of foreign tanks. Another disadvantage of the T-90 transmission is the low reverse speed - 4.8 km/h. On modern Western tanks, which use hydrostatic turning mechanisms with digital automatic control systems, the movement speed in reverse reaches 30 km/h. The chassis also remained virtually unchanged, with the exception that the track rollers were widened by 10 mm - according to the designers, this improved the load distribution on the track.

Back in Soviet times, UKBTM received the task of developing, on the basis of Object 188, its command version, which was supposed to provide control of subordinate units during combat operations both day and night, as well as communication with higher commanders. The tank received the name T-90K (commander's) and was equipped with special equipment - a short-wave radio station P-163-50K ("Ar6alet-50K"), tank navigation equipment TNA-4-3, a telescopic antenna mast, a PAB-2M artillery compass and an AB electrical unit -1-P with a power of 1 kW, which serves to provide power to the equipment during parking, with the tank engine turned off. With an 11-meter mast antenna, the shortwave radio station R-163-50K provides stable communication at a range of up to 350 km. Despite the fact that a significant number of additional units of the fire control system and communications equipment had to be installed on the command vehicle, the combat characteristics of the T-90K were maintained at the level of the linear T-90.

Almost simultaneously with the basic “Object 188”, its export version, the “Object 188C”, was also developed, mainly characterized by lower security and differences in configuration. Outwardly, they were practically no different. Although permission to export the T-90S was received simultaneously with the adoption of the basic vehicle in 1992, the vehicle was not able to immediately break through beyond Russia. At that time, officials from Rosvooruzhenie relied on the more advanced and expensive gas turbine T-80U, which, in their opinion, was more attractive for export. The military was of the same opinion. Even in 1996, when the T-90 was officially chosen as the tank for re-equipping units of the Russian Army, the then head of the GABTU, Colonel General A.A. Galkin spoke out against the T-90, considering the T-80U to be a more promising vehicle. True, only Cyprus and South Korea managed to sell T-80U tanks abroad, and then the latter to pay off the Russian debt to this country.

A contract worth $172 million for the purchase of 41 T-80U/UK for arming the Cyprus National Guard was signed in April 1996. Delivery of the tanks began in the summer of that year and ended in June 1997. In 1996, Russia officially announced the export of 33 T-80U tanks to South Korea. For these supplies, Russian debt in the amount of $210 million was written off. According to other sources, by 2007 South Korea already had 80 such tanks. In both cases, these were not newly produced vehicles, but vehicles from the Armed Forces. The T-90S was first exported abroad only in 1997, when it was presented at the YuEX-97 arms exhibition in Abu Dhabi. In the meantime, the search for foreign customers was ongoing, the export T-90C was slowly being improved. First of all, the characteristics of the night sighting system were improved. Even during the ground operation to liberate Kuwait - “Desert Sword”, in 1991, American and British tank crews, taking advantage of a significant advantage in target detection range in conditions of limited visibility, which provided them with the use of modern thermal imaging night vision systems, in a series of night battles 25 -February 26 inflicted heavy losses on Iraqi troops. Since during the day the movement of Iraqi tanks was practically impossible due to air supremacy of allied aviation, then tank battles, as a rule, took place at night.

Thermal imaging sights also turned out to be useful during the day, since visibility was often limited due to smoke from burning oil fields, damaged equipment, dust squalls or rain. Compared to the old second-generation infrared sights installed on the T-72 and T-90 tanks of the 1992 model, thermal imagers were devoid of many shortcomings. In particular, their work did not deteriorate in bad weather conditions, the sight was not “blind” from the flashes of shots, it did not need external illumination, which would unmask the tank (large infrared illumination spotlights disappeared from Western tanks in the late 70s). It is not surprising that foreign customers, when purchasing armored vehicles, paid great attention to the availability and quality of thermal imaging sights. But since its own production of thermal imaging sighting systems was not available in Russia, then the demonstration samples of the T-90S had to be equipped with Belarusian sights from the Peleng company, which used the French Catherine-FS thermal camera. Another direction for improving the T-90 turned out to be forced. When in Russia in the second half of the 90s, due to lack of demand, large-scale production of tank turret casting at ZSO (the Sergo Ordzhonikidze plant in Chelyabinsk) “died” due to lack of demand, and tank turrets cast in small batches turned out to be extremely expensive, designers had to look for a way out . Fortunately, there was a “backlog” from the times of the USSR, when the design of a tank turret for the T-72, welded from rolled armor plates, was worked out. With the same strength and protection as cast, it had less weight, in addition, the internal volume increased slightly and projectile resistance increased. The grimace of the Soviet planned economy was that the welded tower was not put into production earlier because they did not want to disrupt the established production of cast towers. Now the welded tower has been given the green light. The first welded turrets for the T-90 were manufactured in 1998 and successfully passed full-scale shelling tests at the training ground. Since 2002, all produced T-90S have already received a welded turret. A similar story happened in Ukraine. With the closure of the production of cast towers at the Mariupol plant, which equipped the T-80UD, in Kharkov at the plant named after. Malyshev also switched to a welded tower. As a result, 175 T-80UD tanks, out of 320 delivered to Pakistan under the contract signed between this country and Ukraine in 1996, were equipped with welded turrets.

Deliveries of the T-80UD to Pakistan greatly contributed to the export success of the T-90S. Pakistan's longtime rival, India, could not remain indifferent to its restless neighbor receiving a new tank division; this violated military parity in the region. On the other hand, there was no longer any hope of meeting the deadlines for the development program of India’s own Arjun tank. Therefore, given the significant number of Soviet T-72M and T-72M1 tanks available in India, the Indians naturally showed interest in the T-90. Preliminary negotiations, consultations and approvals lasted for more than two years, until in April 1999 an agreement was reached to test three T-90S in India. All three tanks were different from each other. Thermal imaging sights were different - “Nocturne” or “Essa”, only one tank had the “Shtora” system installed, two tanks had cast turrets, and the third had a welded one.

From May 8 to August, the T-90S underwent a test program in the Thar Desert, in extreme conditions - during the day the heat here reached 50 degrees Celsius. The vehicles traveled 2,000 km across this hot desert and then fired 150 rounds. The Indian military was satisfied with the test results, and a long process of agreeing on the terms of the contract began. In the east they love and know how to bargain, so the final signing of the contract took place only after almost a year and a half - on February 15, 2001 in Delhi. Under its terms, Russia undertook to supply India with 310 T-90S tanks, which was enough to rearm the tank division (by this time Pakistan has already received all 320 T-80UD tanks). Of these, 124 were assembled in Russia and delivered to the customer in finished form, and 186 tanks were to be assembled from assembly units in India itself at the state-owned HVF (Heavy Vehicles Factory) plant in the city of Avadi (Tamil Nadu). The total value of the contract was $800 million, and deliveries under it were fully completed in 2003.

So what did Indians get for their money? As a result of persistent demands, they received not just an export T-90S in its original 1992 configuration, but a vehicle that combined (in their opinion) all the best of the three models proposed for testing. It is interesting that this “Indian” T-90S was significantly superior to the T-90 of the 1992 model, supplied by Uralvagonzavod for the Russian Army. On Indian tanks, instead of the Buran-PA night sight, which was mounted on Russian cars, a more advanced thermal imaging sight for the gunner "Essa" of joint French-Belarusian production was installed. The commander received the PNK-4S "Agat-S" sighting and observation system. The Indians abandoned the Shtora-1 optical-electronic suppression complex, and in place of its illuminators in the front part of the turret, additional trapezoidal containers of the Kontakt-5 dynamic protection complex were mounted, as a result of which the turret’s security increased compared to Russian tanks. Interestingly, the Indians also demanded that anti-nuclear defense be strengthened. At their request, the thickness of the anti-neutron lining was almost doubled, despite the fact that the anti-nuclear protection of the Russian T-90s was already considered quite powerful. Considering that the eternal enemies - India and Pakistan - are both members of the nuclear club, such a requirement suggests that the Indian military does not rule out the use of tactical weapons in a possible armed conflict with Pakistan. nuclear weapons. All Indian T-90S (except for the first forty vehicles) were equipped with welded turrets, a reinforced chassis, as well as a 1000-horsepower V-92S2 diesel engine (recall that the Russian T-90 at that time had a B-84 diesel engine with a power of 840 hp ).

In 2000, inspired by the emerging success in India, the Russians entered the T-90S to participate in an international tender for the purchase of tanks held by Malaysia. For testing, a T-90S copy, modernized after testing in India, with an air conditioner installed, was delivered to Kuala Lumpur airport. Together with the T-90S, the Polish RT-91 Twardy tank (which is a modernization of the Soviet T-72M), the Ukrainian T-84 and the Swedish light tank CV90 120. Tests took place from June 19 to August 21, with local military personnel mainly interested in the mobility and operational reliability of tanks in difficult local conditions. The vehicles were asked to travel about 2,800 km through the jungle, mountainous terrain, through wetlands and water obstacles. During this “race” in the very center of the jungle, the T-90, not without the “help” of a Malaysian driver (the tests were carried out by mixed Russian-Malaysian crews), was pulled off a washed-out clay road into a ditch, from where it could only be retrieved with effort, according to one version , two Hyundai excavators, and according to another, the T-90S was evacuated using a 50-ton Japanese KATO crane, paying 5 thousand dollars for this. But despite all the odds, the T-90S successfully reached the finish line.

True, the results of the Malaysian competition were quite unexpected. Despite the fact that during testing the Polish RT-91M was significantly inferior to both the Russian T-90S and the Ukrainian T-84 in most key indicators, in April 2002 the Malaysian government announced its decision to purchase 48 PT-91MZ tanks and six ARVs. WZT-4" in Poland. The total contract amount was $370 million. Russian experts claim that one Polish tank cost Malaysia approximately $4 million, or 1.2 million more than the Russian T-90S that participated in this tender. According to one version, this decision was explained by a policy of diversification - Malaysia purchased Su-30MK fighters from Russia, and the contract for tanks was given to Poland; according to another, it was due to banal corruption.”

The failure in the Malaysian tender was more than compensated for by a large contract for the supply of 185 T-90 tanks to Algeria. Taking as a basis the design of the T-90S tank from 1999, supplied to India, UKBTM modified it in accordance with the requirements of the new buyer. The result was a version of the tank with the installation of an air conditioning system (taking into account hot climate Algeria), as well as with an improved laser irradiation detection system, which received the factory index “Object 188CA” (“A” - Algerian) and the designation T-90CA. A prototype of the T-90SA successfully passed rigorous tests in the Algerian desert in 2005, and in January of the following year a contract was signed between Rosoboronexport and the Algerian side. Deliveries for it were fully completed in 2008, however, there was a scandal.

According to press reports, the Algerians made complaints about the configuration of the vehicles - allegedly some of the equipment installed on them was not new, but already used. In 2006, the leader of the Libyan Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi almost purchased the T-90S, but the cost of the T-90S was considered too high, and the Libyan military had to be content with purchasing modernized T-72s. In the same 2006, the Indian government, probably deciding that “there are never enough tanks,” signed a contract for the licensed production of 1000 T-90SA tanks worth $2.5 billion (to be built by 2019), and a few months later There is also an additional contract for the supply of 330 T-90SA tanks during 2007-2008, with the assembly of part of this batch of tanks in India. The ordered tanks featured a modernized chassis, an improved fire control system with an Essa thermal imager, and Indian Kanchan dynamic armor. The tank was named "Bhishma" in honor of the legendary hero of the ancient Indian epic. The matter did not stop there, and in 2007 another contract was signed for the supply of 347 T-90SA worth $1.2 billion, in the form of 124 finished tanks and 223 tank kits for licensed production. The first ten T-90SA tanks, already made in India, entered service with the 73rd Regiment of the Indian Ground Forces in the summer of 2009. In total, India intends to increase the number of T-90s in its troops to 2000 by 2020. In 2008, Indian Defense Minister D. Singh called the T-90 “the second deterrent after nuclear weapons” in the conflict with Pakistan.

But let's return to Russia. Started here in 2004 next stage in the history of the development of the T-90. After a many-year break, the Russian Ministry of Defense ordered 14 tanks from Uralvagonzavod (as mentioned above, the T-90 has not been produced for Russia since 1998). However, apparently, the Russian military, due to limited funding, was so unaccustomed to ordering weapons and out of touch with the realities of production that they ordered the “Object 188” of the 1992 model, which, naturally, over the past 12 years has already become significantly outdated and inferior even to export T- 90C supplied to India. Although the Customer was eventually convinced to make changes to the design of the tank that had already been mastered by the plant, the matter was complicated by the fact that they were not ordered by the military department, and therefore were not tested or accepted. Therefore, in order to “legalize” new design solutions, we had to receive technical specifications from the Customer for ready-made components, coordinate the stages of ongoing development work, etc. and so on. The tank, modernized in 2004 for the Russian Army, received the internal factory designation “Object 188A1” and had a number of important improvements compared to the “Object 188” of the 1992 model,

First of all, instead of the 840-horsepower V-84 engine, a 1000-horsepower V-92S2 diesel engine was installed (it was also possible to install a 1200-horsepower V-99 diesel engine). The previous cast turret was replaced with a reinforced welded one with frontal parts measuring up to 950 mm, which significantly increased its resistance against BOPS/KS. The tank was armed with a modernized 125-mm 2A46M-5 smoothbore gun. This gun had half the thickness of the muzzle part of the pipe (0.4 mm instead of 0.8 mm), the cradle neck was extended by 160 mm with two play-selecting devices. In addition, both guides of the cradle were made as a prism. All this made it possible to reduce the average dispersion of projectiles by 15%. The gun stabilizer was replaced, which doubled the aiming speed and improved the accuracy of firing on the move. The T01-K05 Buran-M thermal imager was used as a night sight. Based on an analysis of the experience of battles in Chechnya and other regional conflicts, a set of measures was implemented to strengthen the local protection of tank elements vulnerable to RPG fire, in particular, the protection of fuel tanks was improved. An upgraded Shtora optical-electronic countermeasures complex has also been installed. In this form, the improved vehicle was put into service in 2005 under the army name T-90A. In 2004 and 2005, the military ordered and received 14 and 18 T-90A tanks (two of them with a cast turret in the commander's version). Most of the first T-90A entered service with the 2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Taman Order October revolution Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division named after. Kalinin, stationed near Moscow.

Starting in 2006, a more modern second-generation Essa thermal imager with a Catherine FC matrix, integrated with the main sight and its rangefinder channel, began to be installed on all T-90As under construction, this made it possible to increase the night vision range from 1800 to 4000 m. In 2006 In 2007 and 2007, 31 tanks were produced, and in 2008 and 2009, production volume doubled - 62 vehicles were built per year. Thus, from 2004 to 2009 inclusive, 30 T-90A (with Buran-M), 180 T-90A (with Essa), 2 command T-90K (with Buran-M) and six command T-90AK (with Essa), or a total of 218 tanks. In 2010, purchases were increased to 63 T-90A tanks per year, but this was the “last push” - the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that from 2011 it would stop purchasing T-90A tanks for the Russian Army. This decision was somewhat unexpected; after all, the T-90 tank had a good reputation in Russia, and by 2010 it had become the best-selling of the newly built tanks on the world market - the volume of export deliveries of T-90S was about 1000 units .

The position of the military was explained by the then Russian Minister of Defense A. Serdyukov, who said that the military decided to refuse to purchase T-90 tanks because of their high cost. In addition, according to Serdyukov, the army currently does not experience a shortage of heavy armored vehicles - in the Armed Forces Russian Federation there are more than 10 thousand tanks, and, according to him, the Ministry of Defense no longer wants to purchase old designs. Here, it is necessary to clarify that over the past years, the Russian Ministry of Defense has already curtailed several tank projects. Thus, in the spring of 2010, it was announced that funding for the UKBTM project to create the newest Russian T-95 tank was stopped, also due to its high cost. Previously, the work of the Omsk Design Bureau of Transport Engineering on the Black Eagle tank (modification T-80U) was stopped. So far, the Ministry of Defense has not abandoned only one tank project - after harsh statements addressed to tank builders, the department announced the creation of a fundamentally new tank based on the Armata universal tracked platform,

The project was officially approved in March 2012. It is being developed by UKBTM. The fundamental difference between the "Armata" and the T-90 should be the so-called carriage layout - the turret will house a remote-controlled gun along with ammunition. The crew will be housed in an armored capsule. Tankers will receive information about the situation on the battlefield from thermal imaging, television and laser sensors on the monitor screen. It is expected that delivery of the first main battle tanks on this platform to the troops will begin in 2015. In the future, the new Armata should replace all T-72 and T-80. But let's return to the T-90. Indeed, its cost grew from year to year: in 2004 it was 36 million rubles, at the end of 2006 - 42 million rubles, and at the beginning of 2007 - the T-90A (“Object 188A1”) cost 56 million . rub. In 2010, the purchase price of the T-90 under contracts for the supply of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was 70 million rubles, and in 2011 the cost of the new T-90 increased noticeably and reached 118 million rubles. During 2011, other high-ranking military officials also criticized the T-90. In March the commander in chief ground forces Colonel General A. Postnikov said that the T-90 cannot withstand competition with NATO and Chinese equipment and at the same time is so expensive that instead of one car for 118 million rubles you can buy as many as three higher quality German Leopards (though Postnikov did not specify from whom exactly he was going to buy three Leopards for 118 million rubles, since in 2011 the average cost of just one Leopard 2A6 was 6 million dollars, or about 172 million rubles). Also, according to him, the T-90 does not represent anything new and “is in fact the 17th modification of the Soviet T-72, produced since 1973.” In September, the head of the Russian General Staff, Army General N. Makarov, for his part, attacked the T-90. He stated that the tank only partially meets the requirements of the Ministry of Defense and has a lot of shortcomings. According to the general, by and large, the designers succeeded only with the turret (probably referring to the T-90MS turret).

In addition to the financial and technical side, the refusal to purchase the T-90 was obviously associated with changed views on methods of conducting armed struggle. Evolution modern weapons led to the massive use of drones, robotic combat systems, smart missiles, etc. Accordingly, there is an opinion in the Russian General Staff that the time of tanks has generally passed and that tank formations in the structure of the army of the future have no prospects, although not all experts are sure that wars will very soon become “contactless.” It must be said that the discussion about the place and role of main battle tanks in modern armies is also ongoing in the United States. Previously, the United States planned to completely abandon the use of armored units by 2030, switching first to Stryker brigade combat teams and then to a new concept " Combat systems future." Based on the fact that future army The United States will predominantly have an “expeditionary” character; a number of American military personnel believe that there will be no need for a large number of heavy armored vehicles.

Despite this position of the Russian Customer, Uralvagonzavod and UKBTM continued work on improving the T-90, conducting it on their own initiative. Their result was the export version of the promising tank T-90M, presented on September 9, 2011 at the Staratel training ground in Nizhny Tagil as part of the VIII international arms exhibition REA-2011. A unified fighting compartment was developed for the tank (also suitable for modernizing all previously produced T-90s). It was first publicly demonstrated on December 8, 2009 to the then Prime Minister of the Russian Federation V. Putin, who attended a meeting on the development of Russian tank production, held in Nizhny Tagil. The T-90MS tank is equipped with a modern highly automated Kalina fire control system with an integrated tactical level combat information and control system. The fire control system includes a multi-channel gunner's sight and a commander's panoramic sight, a digital ballistic computer with a set of weather and ballistic conditions sensors, and a backup sight.

Particular attention was paid to improving the commander's ability to find targets and control weapons fire equally effectively day and night. At the same time, the equipment implements the functions of additional improvement of the background target environment in difficult weather conditions. The efficiency of using the tank's weapons has been increased by ensuring equal search capabilities for the gunner and commander. This makes it possible to organize a highly effective “hunter-gunner” mode in the fire control system, when the commander, regardless of the time of day, monitors the target environment, detects and recognizes targets, and carries out their capture for automatic tracking. And then, through the target designation mode, it “transfers” them to the gunner for destruction, continuing the search for new targets. The tank is equipped with a 2A46M-5 high-precision gun; the stability of the initial velocity and accuracy of the projectiles is ensured, among other things, by chrome-plating the barrel bore. Thanks to this, its resource increases by 1.7 times. It is also possible to install a completely new gun with significantly improved ballistic characteristics - 2A32. Smoothbore gun increased power With an auto-bonded and partially chrome-plated barrel, the 2A82 is a completely new development, only externally similar to the 125 mm tank guns of the previous generation. The achieved level of energy characteristics of the 2A82 gun allows it to provide significant superiority over serial and developed domestic and foreign analogues. The muzzle energy of the 2A82 gun is significantly greater than the muzzle energy of the well-known Rheinmetall Rh 120/L55 gun, mounted on German tanks"Leopard" 2A6. To realize the high fire capabilities of the 125 mm tank gun, the use of modern types of ammunition is ensured. For example, the new “long” (740 mm long) BOPS of increased power. The use of ZVBM22 rounds with ZBM59 Svinets-1 BOPS and ZVBM23 with ZBM60 Svinets-2 BOPS makes it possible to significantly increase armor penetration while simultaneously increasing the actual firing distance.

To increase the effectiveness of the fight against tank-dangerous manpower and anti-tank artillery, a new high-explosive fragmentation round ZVOF77V with a high-explosive fragmentation projectile ZOF54 was introduced into the ammunition load of the T-90MS tank, as well as a ZVSh7 round with a projectile with ready-made lethal elements 3Sh7 "Raven". The shells are equipped with electronic remote-contact fuses. To ensure the firing of these ammunition, the T-90MS tank is equipped with the Ainet remote detonation system, which ensures the detonation of the OFS at a given point in the trajectory. This system allows the projectile to be effectively used against hovering helicopters, manpower and light armored vehicles located openly and in trenches, at distances of 4 km or more. The characteristics of the radius of fragmentation damage and the accuracy of fire at range are improved threefold, which reduces the average consumption of shells on a typical target by half. It should be noted that the Ainet system, developed for the T-90 tank and put into service back in 1988, turned out to be insufficiently effective. One of its weak links was the low accuracy of the laser rangefinder included in the 1G46 tank sight. However, the more advanced Kalina fire control system of the modernized T-90MS tank significantly improved the characteristics of the Ainet system. T-90 in “flight” The T-90MS ammunition is placed in two stowage groups: inside the tank and outside, 22 shots are in the automatic loader, in the lower part of the hull, the remaining shots and charges for them are transferred from the fighting compartment to an armored box at the rear of the turret . The new machine gun mount "UDP T05BV-1" with a 7.62-mm 6P7K (PKTM) machine gun allows the commander, while inside the tank, to conduct effective fire from a place and on the move at stationary and moving targets. It has two-plane stabilization and vertical firing angles from -10 to +45 degrees. A 12.7 mm machine gun and a 30 mm AGS grenade launcher can be installed on the remote installation platform, depending on the customer’s wishes. Moreover, the digital ballistic path of the Kalina fire control system makes it possible to replace remotely mounted weapons in the field, depending on the assigned tasks. The tank provides effective all-round protection against major anti-tank weapons. The traditionally weak turret roof protection of tanks has been significantly strengthened. Removable modules with built-in remote sensing of the latest generation “Relict” are installed. Also, the hull and turret were modified to install lattice screens that protect from anti-tank grenades. As a result, the tank is protected from BPS and hand-held anti-tank grenades from all angles. The anti-neutron cap is replaced with fire-resistant anti-fragmentation material such as Kevlar (aramid fabric), which protects the crew and equipment from the secondary flow of fragments. In addition to armor protection, the tank is equipped with an automated system for setting up a multispectral curtain against laser-guided missiles and an electromagnetic protection system against mines with magnetometric fuses. In addition, at the request of the customer, the Arena-E active tank protection complex can be installed, as well as the TShU- system 1-2M. The T-90MS is equipped with a monoblock power plant with a forced V-92S2F2 engine with a power of 1130 hp.

To improve mobility and maneuverability, a motion control system was used using a steering wheel and automatic gear shifting, with the ability to switch to manual mode. Thanks to its use, physical stress on the driver is reduced, fuel consumption is reduced, acceleration characteristics are increased and average speed tank movements. In addition to the main engine, the T-90MS is equipped with an auxiliary diesel generator set DGU7-27 5P-VM1 with a power of 7 kW, which is located on the left fender. When the main engine of the tank is not running, the installation ensures the operation of communications, control systems and other systems, lighting and charging batteries. Its use not only significantly reduces fuel consumption, but also significantly reduces the visibility of the tank in the infrared range.

The tank is equipped with a new combined night vision device for the driver and a rearview camera. The commander and gunner are provided with all-round visibility through a 360-degree video surveillance system. The firepower, protection and mobility of the tank have noticeably improved, the dimensions of the tank have not increased, and in terms of weight the T-90MS continues to remain in the class of up to 50 tons. Well, we can only wish the new T-90MS the same export sales volumes as its older ones brothers T-90S and T-90SA, because it is thanks to them that Russia takes first place in the ranking of the Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade in terms of the number of new main battle tanks planned for delivery in 2011-2014. During this period, the Russian Federation intends to export 688 main battle tanks worth $1.979 billion. And the total volume of Russian tank exports in the period 2007-2014 is estimated at 1291 new vehicles worth $3.858 billion. Russia's main competitors in this field are the United States and Germany. From 2011 to 2014, the United States exports 457 Abrams tanks worth $4.97 billion. During the same period, Germany will export 348 Leopards in various modifications worth $3.487 billion.

Main battle tank T-90

History of creation

The serial production of the T-72B, which began in 1985, already at the time of its creation turned out to be outdated in terms of the fire control complex, since there was no automated fire control system on it at all. The T-72B lagged behind both the foreign Leopard-2 and Abrams tanks and the domestic T-80BV, T-64BV, T-80U and T-80UD, which were produced in the second half of the 80s. Therefore, immediately after the start of production of the T-72B, work began on its improvement. Various modernization options were developed, including the installation of the 1A45 weapons control system already installed on the T-80UD and T-80U while maintaining the existing layout of the T-72B. The modernized vehicle received the index “Object-188”. The first four tanks entered testing in 1989, and two more modified models were tested in 1990.

Along with the installation of the 1A45, there was a simpler improvement option that included modification of the 1A40-1 tank sighting system and the installation of the Shtora-1 optical-electronic suppression complex.

The design of the T-72B improved tank had no major differences from the T-72B, and the 1A45 system had long been tested on tanks developed by the KMDB named after. Morozov and Leningrad "Spetsmash". In fact, the task of the UKBTM designers was only to install a ready-made weapons control system in the T-72B tank. But even this task turned out to be difficult for the UKBTM designers, which is why, in the opinion of both testers and tank crews, the working field of the gunner and commander and the ergonomics of their workplaces were poorly implemented.

The tank was put into service in 1992 after the collapse of the USSR. Initially, a new name “T-88” was intended for this rather modest modernization, which was later replaced by “T-90”.

Production of T-90 tanks for the Russian army began in 1992, at a time heavy enough for Russian times, but thanks to the patronage of Russian President B.N. Yeltsin, before this chairman of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee, the plant received funding. From 1992 to 1997, about 120 T-90 tanks were produced for the Russian armed forces. The first vehicles reached training centers, the T-90 entered service with the 21st Taganrog Order of Suvorov motorized rifle division and the 5th Guards Don Tank Division. In the 90s, some of the tanks were dismantled, many were not combat-ready. In the mid-2000s, the remaining T-90 tanks were transferred from Siberia to the 2nd Guards Taman Division in the Moscow region and a number of training centers.

For deliveries abroad, an export modification of the T-90S tank with improved characteristics was developed. Since 2004, production of the improved T-90A began.

Firepower

The main armament of the T-90 is the 125 mm modernized smoothbore gun-launcher 2A46M-2.

The tank's ammunition capacity is 43 rounds, of which 22 rounds are placed in the rotating conveyor of the automatic loader and 21 in non-mechanized stowage.

A 7.62 caliber PKT machine gun is paired with the cannon. The machine gun's ammunition capacity is 200 rounds (8 belts of 250 rounds each). The machine gun coaxial with the cannon can be fired from the gunner's or commander's position.

The anti-aircraft machine gun is located on the commander's hatch, has a remote control and is designed for firing at air and ground targets with closed tank hatches from the commander's seat. The vertical guidance angle is from -5° to +70°, horizontally - in the range of +/- 90° along the course, or 360° together with the tank turret. The machine gun is stabilized vertically in the angle range from -3° to +30°. Ammunition for the anti-aircraft machine gun is 300 rounds (2 belts in magazines of 150 each).

The main anti-tank weapons of the T-90 are also armor-piercing sub-caliber shells (3BM-22, 3BM-26, BM-29, 3BM-42) and a guided weapon system with 3UBK14 and 3UBK20 rounds. Rate of fire - 6...8 rounds per minute. Russian BPS with T-90 ammunition lag behind the American ones in terms of armor penetration because were mainly developed back in the 80s under the USSR.

Another factor hindering the development of high-power ammunition for the T-90 tank is the limitations of the automatic loader (AZ) in terms of the length of the loaded projectile.

T-90 tanks equipped with the 9K119 Reflex KUV receive fundamentally new combat capabilities: the TUR firing range is 2...2.5 times greater than the return fire range of the BPS of any modern tanks. This allows domestic tanks to win the battle before entering the effective fire zone of enemy tanks.

The 1A45-T fire control system consists of a 1G46 gunner's day sight, a TO1-KO1 gunner's night sight with a "Buran-PA" sight, a PNK-4S commander's sighting and observation system, a PZU-7 anti-aircraft sight, a 1ETs29 anti-aircraft gun control system, and a ballistic computer 1B528-1 with sensors for input information, weapon stabilizer 2E42-4 and other devices.

The 1G46 gunner's day sight has a line of sight stabilized in two planes, a built-in laser rangefinder and a guided missile control channel.

Night sighting system TO1-KO1 with a TPN-4 “Buran-PA” sight with an electron-optical converter.

The PNK-4S commander's sighting and observation system consists of a TKN-4S commander's combined day-night sight and a gun position sensor. The TKN-4S commander's combined sight is stabilized in the vertical plane and has three channels: a single day channel, a multiple day channel with a magnification of 8x, and a night channel with a magnification of 5.4x. The commander can switch from the day channel to the night channel (with an electro-optical converter) and back using a lever.

The anti-aircraft sight allows the commander to fire at air targets from an anti-aircraft machine gun mount while being protected by the turret's armor.

To calculate ballistic corrections, the 1B528-1 ballistic computer automatically takes into account signals coming from the following sensors: tank speed, angular speed of the target, roll angle of the gun trunnion axis, transverse component of wind speed, range to the target, heading angle. Additionally, for the calculation, the following parameters are manually entered: ambient air temperature, charge temperature, barrel bore wear, ambient air pressure, etc.

The disadvantages of the T-90 fire control system are errors in stabilizing the field of view of the night sight, which makes it difficult to observe and aim while moving. The TPN-4 night sight has dependent stabilization in both planes.

The T-90S and T-90A are equipped with an improved fire control system with an Essa thermal imaging sight; the conditions for observing a target and aiming through the second sight in motion are no worse than when working through the first.

T-90 security

The design of the turret with a cast base of the T-90 tank is similar to that used on the T-72B. Filler packets are of the “semi-active” type.

On the frontal part of the turret of the T-90 tank there are 7 containers and one block of dynamic protection installed, which cover less than half of the frontal projection of the turret at a heading angle of fire of 0°.

There are 21 containers installed on the roof of the tower, protecting attackers from above from ammunition.

Due to the unsuccessful installation of jammer searchlights from the Shtora-1 KOEP, a large area of ​​​​the turret projection in the most threatening sectors of fire is not protected by dynamic protection. The areas on the sides of the embrasure are also very weakly protected, with one container and one section of reduced size.

Further modernization of the tower is difficult due to the significant moment of imbalance of the tower (the center of gravity is shifted forward).

The armor of the T-90 hull consists of spaced barriers made of high-hardness steel and armor using “reflective sheets” on a principle of operation similar to the package used in the tank turret.

On the upper part of the frontal assembly there is a built-in dynamic protection “Contact-V” installed, which provides protection not only from cumulative PTS but also from OBPS.

Power shields with built-in dynamic protection are installed on the sides of the hull.

Tanks equipped with built-in Kontakt-V dynamic protection provide protection against the M829A1 armor-piercing sabot projectile (APP).

Comparison characteristics
Type	Manufacturer country	B.weight, t.	Armor penetration (mm./60 0)		Protection eq. (mm.)
			BPS	KS	from BPS	from KS
T-90	RF	46,5	220…300		670…700	1000

Optical-electronic suppression complex "Shtora-1"

The "Shtora-1" optical-electronic suppression complex provides the tank with individual protection against anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) with command semi-automatic guidance systems such as "TOW", "Hot", "Milan", "Dragon" and laser homing heads such as “Maverick”, “Hellfiree”, “Copper head” by creating active interference with their guidance. In a split second after the laser beam from the “enemy’s” rangefinder hit, the T-90 automatic system warned the crew of the danger with a sound signal and fired a grenade in the threatened direction, which, when exploded, created a dense aerosol cloud that completely absorbed the tank. As a result, the laser rangefinder lost its target and the ATGM went off course.

The Shtora-1 complex consists of two independent systems: a remote system for setting up aerosol formations, designed to cover the fields of view (hardware and visual) guidance systems using laser illumination, and an optical-electronic countermeasures station TSHU 1-7, designed to organize false signals in the control loop of anti-tank shells with semi-automatic command systems guidance

The Shtora-1 complex provides: jamming in the form of modulated infrared radiation affecting the semi-automatic missile control system; automatic shooting of an aerosol-forming grenade in the direction of the laser illumination source and blocking this direction with an aerosol curtain, determining the direction to the laser illumination source and issuing a command to rotate the tank turret in the indicated direction, light and sound signaling when the tank is irradiated by laser target designators and rangefinders, setting in front of the tank there is a masking aerosol curtain.

The optical-electronic suppression station OTSHU-1, installed on the T-90S tank, provides interference in the form of modulated IR radiation in the wavelength range 0.7-2.5 microns in the sector +-20 degrees from the axis of the barrel bore horizontally and at 4.5 degrees - vertically.

The system for setting up the aerosol curtain reacts to laser radiation within 360 degrees in azimuth and -5...+25 in the vertical plane. An aerosol curtain is formed at a distance of 55-70 meters 3 seconds after shooting 3D17 grenades. The duration of the aerosol cloud is about 20 seconds (according to foreign sources). The weight of the system is about 400 kg.

Tactical characteristics of the SHTORA system
Probability of failure of aiming of anti-tank weapons of ATLIS, TADS, PAVE-SPIKE types	during the day 0.85
Probability of failure of guided missiles with laser homing heads such as “Maverick”, “Helfair”
Probability of failure of Copperhead-type guided artillery shells
Probability of failure of targeting of target designators with an electron-optical modulator	0,8 - 0,9
Probability of failure of the guidance of anti-tank guided missiles with Maverick and Helfire television heads	0,54
Probability of failure of the guidance of anti-tank guided missiles such as "Milan", "Hot"
Increased likelihood of protection from artillery systems with laser rangefinders by several times	1,3 - 3,0

Mobility

The tank is equipped with a V-84MS engine with a power of 840 hp. differing from the B-84-1 in the design of the exhaust manifolds.

The seven-speed onboard gearbox (BKP) was developed in the early 60s for the T-64 tank for the 5TDF engine with a power of 700 hp. In the 70s, the BKP was strengthened for the V-46, and then the V-84 and V-92 engines.

Naturally, the BKP developed in the 60s no longer fully meet modern requirements. Due to the use of an outdated design of the rotation mechanism, the role of which is performed by onboard stepped gearboxes, the maneuverability of the Russian T-90 tank is lower than that of foreign tanks.

In addition to maneuverability, the disadvantage of the tank's transmission is the low reverse speed - 4.8 km/h. Modern Western tanks use hydrostatic turning mechanisms with digital automatic control systems, allowing reverse movement up to 30 km/h.

Another aspect is the ease of maintenance of the tank engine, in which the B-84 is inferior to foreign diesel engines. Replacing an engine is difficult due to poor access to it in the engine compartment and the need for alignment work - replacing an engine with a factory team of 4 people takes 22.2 hours. The presence of a guitar and the need to align other units with it complicates and complicates repair work in the engine and transmission department. This did not meet the requirements for a promising armored vehicles back in the 70s.

The T-90's chassis is similar to that used on the T-72B.

Performance characteristics
Parameter	Unit of measurement	T-90
Full mass		46,5
Crew	people
Power density	hp/t
Engine	HP	V-84MS
Tank width
Specific ground pressure	kgf/cm 2	0,94
Operating temperature	°C	40…+50 (with power reduction)
Tank length
with the gun forward	mm	9530
housing	mm	6917
Tank width
on the caterpillar	mm	3370
on removable protective screens	mm	3780
Tower roof height	mm	2228
Support surface length	mm	4270
Ground clearance	mm	426…470
Track width	mm	2790
Travel speed
Medium on dry dirt road	km/h	35…40
Maximum on paved roads	km/h
In reverse gear, maximum	km/h	4,18
Fuel consumption per 100 km
On a dry dirt road	l, up	260…450
On a paved road	l, up
on main fuel tanks	km
with additional barrels	km
Ammunition
Shots to the cannon	PC

The T-90 was also successful in the international arena - today it is the most commercially successful and best-selling Russian tank in the world. Currently, the T-90 is in export version in service with India, Algeria, Uganda, and Turkmenistan. As of 2012, the total production of T-90s was at least 1,335 tanks.

The history of the T-90 began under the USSR - in the mid-80s. Then a completely sensible idea prevailed in the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Ministry of Defense Industry (MOD) of the USSR about the need to develop a single promising main tank for the entire Soviet Army. With its adoption, an extremely distinctive period of Soviet tank building was supposed to end, when factories were simultaneously producing two or three types of main tanks - T-64, T-72 and T-80. They were similar in combat characteristics, but differed significantly in design, which extremely complicated the process of their operation among the troops due to the de-standardization of the tank fleet. In accordance with the Government Decree “On measures to create a new tank” issued on February 7, 1986, the Kharkov T-80UD was to serve as the basis for it. It was an improved “eighty” with a compact two-stroke diesel engine 6TD instead of the expensive and power-hungry gas turbine GTD-1000. Gradually, the T-80UD would replace other types of tanks in the army.

It was assumed that the “highlight” of the promising vehicle would be only the computerized control system for units and subunits, which was then becoming fashionable, and brought down to a separate tank. However, while the promising tank was just a “pie in the sky”, the question arose of what to do with the “birds in the hand” - the numerous main tanks in the army, the combat characteristics of which no longer met the requirements of the time. This primarily applied to the T-72 early modifications. It is no secret that this tank was a variant of a combat vehicle for the mobilization period, and its design was simplified as much as possible for mass production and operation by poorly trained personnel.

This is partly why the “seventy-two” were widely supplied abroad to Middle Eastern and African countries, and licenses for their production were sold to the Warsaw Pact allies - Poland and Czechoslovakia. The main disadvantage of the T-72 was considered its primitive, although reliable, 1A40 sighting system, which is no longer ensured the effective fire required from modern tanks. The fact is that although the 1A40 complex measured the range to the target and determined the lateral lead angles (for a moving target), however, the introduction of corrections to the aiming angle for: deviation of the ambient air temperature, charge temperature, atmospheric pressure from normal, as well as a drop in the initial the projectile velocity as a result of wear of the gun bore had to be entered only manually before firing. The instructions described the introduction of amendments as follows: “The tank commander, if information is available (!), determines the amendments using the nomograms located on the right side of the gun panel and transmits the resulting value to the gunner.” Those. almost “hand to eye”.

It was necessary to “pull up” the characteristics of the “seventy-two” to a level not lower than the T-80U and, first of all, increase the firepower. It must be said that similar events have already been carried out by the Soviet defense industry. In the early 80s, a similar program to improve fire efficiency and protection was implemented for the T-55 medium tanks. The result was a modification of the T-55AM, the combat effectiveness of which corresponded to the level of the early T-64 and T-72. To do this, a new sight, laser rangefinder, and ballistic computer were installed on the T-55AM, and some of the vehicles received the Bastion guided weapon system. On July 19, 1986, a Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, which entrusted the Ural Design Bureau of Transport Engineering (UKBTM) with work on the topic “Improving the T-72B”, or, more simply, bringing it to the level of the more advanced Soviet tanks T-80U and T-80UD.

The start of work on this resolution coincided with a change in the management of UKBTM - chief designer V.N. Venediktov, who headed the design bureau for almost two decades after L.N. Kartsev, retired, and V.I. was appointed in his place. Potkin. To increase the firepower of the T-72B, it was necessary to equip it with a modern, effective fire control system (FCS). To speed up work, reduce the cost of modernization and increase the degree of unification of domestic tanks, UKBTM designers decided to use the 1A45 Irtysh fire control system, already tested on the T-80U and T-80UD tanks, for the modernized “seventy-two”. It was modified to function together with the automatic loader of the T-72 tank (the loading mechanism of the T-80 was significantly different from the automatic loader of the T-72, in the first the shells were placed horizontally and the charges vertically, in the second - both were horizontal). The modified fire control system was designated 1A45T.

In January 1989, a prototype version of the modernized T-72, which received the internal designation “Object 188,” entered the state testing stage. In various official documents and external correspondence, the vehicle was referred to first as the T-72BM (modernized), and later as the T-72BU (improved) - in all likelihood, the word “modernized” sounded too simple to the UVZ management. In the USSR, testing new military equipment was taken very seriously. So, in the 70s, to test various types of tanks, runs of up to 10 thousand km were organized in various regions of the USSR. Tankers and designers jokingly called them “star runs.” It was no longer possible to organize such a large-scale event during Gorbachev’s perestroika, but nevertheless, four prototypes of the “Object 188” were tested for about a year in various climatic conditions, including at the Uralvagonzavod testing grounds in Siberia, as well as in the Moscow, Kemerovo and Dzhambul regions. The vehicles, modified based on the test results, were once again driven through testing grounds, and at the end, to determine the level of security, one vehicle was shot.

According to the recollections of A. Bakhmetov, a participant in these tests, at first a landmine corresponding to the most powerful anti-tank mines of foreign countries was placed under one of the tracks, but after the explosion the vehicle was brought back into working order by the crew within the required time, then the tank was subjected to brutal shell fire at “ weak points. The tank successfully passed tests, and on March 27, 1991, by a joint decision of the USSR Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Defense, the “Object 188” was recommended for adoption by the Soviet Army. However, just six months later, neither the Soviet Army nor the Soviet Union itself disappeared, and the prospects for mass production of the improved T-72B became very vague. Nevertheless, despite the difficult economic situation, the management of Uralvagonzavod and UKBTM managed to push through the decision to accept the improved T-72 for service with the Russian Army. During this struggle for production, in order to emphasize the “Russian” origin of the tank and disassociate itself from the era of the “stagnant” USSR, the idea arose to change the name of the tank from the trivial improved-modernization T-72BU to something more sonorous and original. Initially, the name T-88 was proposed (obviously, by analogy with the object index 188). But fate decreed otherwise.

On October 5, 1992, by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 759-58, “Object 188” was adopted by the Russian Army, but under the name T-90. According to one version, the President of Russia personally ordered that the tank be given this name. The same decree allowed the sale abroad of the export modification of the T-90S. T-90MS commander's workplace: 1 - video viewing device; 2 - multifunctional panel; 3 - all-round viewing prisms; 4 - internal communication and switching equipment; 5 - controls and indications for matching the commander’s sight with prism instruments; 6 - commander's sight control panel; 7 - control panel for the backup sight; 8 - commander's console; 9 - air conditioner cooling unit; 10 - automatic loader loading panel Serial production of the T-90 began at Uralvagonzavod in November of the same year, but, unlike Soviet times, when tanks were produced in the hundreds, the annual production volumes of the T-90 were only in the dozens. The T-90 was the first Russian tank in technological terms. It was necessary to restore production cooperation, destroyed after the collapse of the USSR, within the framework of the Russian defense industry alone. In total, from 1992 to 1998 (when production of the T-90 was suspended), about 120 vehicles were built. And the point here is not that Uralvagonzavod was unable to launch large-scale production, but that the Russian military did not have enough funds to purchase weapons in these troubled times. The first T-90s were sent to a unit stationed closer to the manufacturing plant - the 821st Taganrog Red Banner Order of Suvorov motorized rifle division of the Siberian Military District, where they were formed into a tank regiment. Later, T-90s also ended up in the 5th Guards Don Tank Division in Buryatia (up to a battalion).

What was the T-90 model of 1992? The tank retained the classic layout of the T-72B with the placement of the control compartment in the frontal part, the fighting compartment in the middle and the engine-transmission compartment in the rear. Compared to the T-72B, the protection was strengthened and an automated fire control complex was installed; the hull and turret were adapted to install a new built-in dynamic protection (EDP). Thanks to the use of an automatic gun loader (A3), the T-90 crew consisted of three people - a driver, a gunner and a commander. The hulls of the T-90 and T-72B were almost identical. But the upper frontal part of the T-90 receives built-in dynamic protection. The turret remained cast with combined armor in the frontal part (at heading angles up to 35 degrees). It also had dynamic protection (DZ) - seven blocks and one container were installed in the frontal part, in addition, 20 blocks were installed on the roof of the tower. Exact data on the effectiveness of the T-90's armor remains classified. However, numerous assessments by both domestic and foreign experts can be found in the public domain. The armor resistance of the frontal projection of the hull and turret against shelling by armor-piercing finned sabot projectiles (BOPS) is assessed in general, taking into account the built-in dynamic protection, as equivalent to 900-950 mm of rolled armor steel (without taking into account the built-in EPS: turret 700 mm; hull - 650 mm) .

The armor resistance of the hull and turret against shelling by cumulative projectiles (CS), taking into account dynamic protection, is estimated at 1350-1450 mm (excluding built-in armor protection: turret - 850 mm; hull -750 mm). Additional protection against damage from T-90 anti-tank guided missiles is provided by the Shtora-1 optical-electronic suppression complex. The T-90 became the first production tank on which it was installed. The Shtora-1 complex includes an optical-electronic suppression station (SOEP) and a curtain installation system (SPS).

Additional protection against damage from T-90 anti-tank guided missiles is provided by the Shtora-1 optical-electronic suppression complex. The T-90 became the first production tank on which it was installed. The Shtora-1 complex includes an optical-electronic suppression station (SOEP) and a curtain installation system (SPS). The main idea of ​​​​the complex’s operation is to generate a signal from the EPDS, similar to the signal from the tracers of Western ATGMs, which entails disruption of their guidance, and also reduces the likelihood of hitting the target with weapons that use laser target illumination. The curtain system achieves the same result by setting a smoke screen.

When irradiation of a tank by laser radiation is detected, the system for setting the curtains determines the direction of irradiation and notifies the crew, after which an aerosol grenade is fired automatically or at the direction of the tank commander, which, when exploded, creates an aerosol cloud that weakens and partially reflects the laser radiation, thereby disrupting the operation of the missile guidance systems. In addition, the aerosol cloud acts as a smoke screen, camouflaging the tank. It should be noted that some experts believe that the installation scheme for jamming searchlights of the Shtora-1 complex on the T-90 was implemented extremely poorly - because of them, a large area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe tower projection in the most threatening sectors of fire was left without dynamic protection units.

The main armament of the T-90 is the 125-mm smoothbore gun 2A46M-2, which is a modification of the 2A46M-1 gun (installed on the T-80U) for the T-72 autoloader. The gun's ammunition, in addition to armor-piercing sub-caliber, cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation projectiles (HEF), also includes 9M119 guided missiles. Thanks to the electromechanical automatic loader, the T-90's combat rate of fire is 6-8 rounds/min. The mechanized circular rotation arrangement includes 22 separate loading shots: the shells are placed horizontally on the bottom of the fighting compartment, under the powder charges. The minimum charging cycle is 6.5-7 seconds, the maximum is 15 seconds. The automatic loader is replenished by the crew in 15-20 minutes.

The 1A45T “Irtysh” fire control system includes the 1A42 fire control system (FCS) and the 9K119 “Reflex” guided weapon system (KW), the TPN-4-4E “Buran-PA” gunner’s night sight and the PNK-4S commander’s sighting and observation system with day/night sight TKN-4S "Agat-S". The 1A42 fire control system includes a 1G46 rangefinder sight, a 1V528-1 electronic ballistic computer and a 2E42-4 stabilizer. The control system available on the T-90 allows you to introduce amendments to the firing parameters, taking into account the tank’s speed, range and angular velocity of the target, temperature, air pressure and wind speed (determined by the DVE-BS sensor), charge temperature, angle of inclination of the gun trunnions and wear of the barrel bore, The 1G46 gunner's day sight has a line of sight stabilized in two planes, a built-in laser rangefinder and a guided missile control channel. The 1B528-1 ballistic computer automatically takes into account signals coming from the following sensors: tank speed, angular speed of the target, roll angle of the gun trunnion axis, transverse component of wind speed, range to the target, heading angle. Additionally, for the calculation, the following parameters are manually entered: ambient air temperature, charge temperature, barrel bore wear, ambient air pressure, etc. Unlike the control system of all Soviet tanks, on the T-90 the ballistic computer performs the functions of a firing permission unit, i.e., when the axis of the barrel bore deviates from the direction given to it more than the threshold, a shot does not occur.

The PNK-4S commander's sighting and observation system consists of a TKN-4S commander's combined sight and a gun position sensor. The TKN-4S combined day-night commander trailer is stabilized in the vertical plane and has three channels: a single day channel, a multiple day channel with a magnification magnification of 8x, and a night channel with a magnification magnification of 5.4x. The 9K119 "Reflex" guided weapon system provides firing at stationary and moving targets at speeds of up to 70 km/h (according to the manufacturer - even helicopters) at ranges of up to 5000 m, at a tank speed of up to 30 km/h, while Firing from the KUV 9K120 mounted on the T-72B could only be done from a standing position. In general, the presence of guided weapons provides the T-90 with a greater effective target engagement range than tanks equipped only with artillery weapons, for which, even with the most modern sighting systems, effective shooting at “tank” type targets at a distance of more than 2500 m is already seriously difficult.

The TPN-4-49 "Buran-PA" gunner's night sight operates in passive mode in natural night illumination of 0.0005 lux and above, while its electro-optical converter amplifies the reflected light of the stars and the moon. When illumination is less than 0.0005 lux, the sight operates in active mode, i.e. when illuminating the area with infrared rays. The T-90 uses infrared emitters of the Shtora-1 optical-electronic suppression system as an infrared illuminator. The T-90 is equipped with a closed anti-aircraft machine gun mount (ZPU) with remote electromechanical control, from which the commander does not need to leave the vehicle to fire. Similar remote-controlled launchers have been installed on the T-64 since the 70s, and later on the T-80, but all previously produced modifications of the T-72 had an open manually controlled launcher, to fire from which the commander had to stick out of his waist up to his waist. hatch. The T-90 of the 1992 model was equipped with a multi-fuel diesel engine V-84MS with a power of 840 hp, developed by the Chelyabinsk Design Bureau "Transdiesel".

The previous version of the B-84, installed on the T-72B, revealed a drawback during operation - overheating and burnout of the exhaust manifolds. Therefore, bellows were installed on the exhaust manifolds of the B-84MS, mixing exhaust gases with atmospheric air, which improved the thermal operating conditions of the manifolds and, in addition, reduced the visibility of the tank in the infrared range. The disadvantages of the engine include the significant time it takes to replace it - a team of qualified technicians needs 6 hours to do this (according to other sources, it takes even longer), while on the American M1A1 Abrams it takes only 2 hours.

With the V-84MS engine, the specific power of the T-90 is 18 hp/t, which by modern standards is considered insufficient; back in Soviet times, a requirement for its minimum value was voiced - at least 20 hp/t. The mechanical planetary transmission remains almost the same as on the T-72B; it provides 7 forward gears and one reverse gear. The machine is turned by engaging a low gear in the gearbox on the side of the lagging track. Due to this outdated turning pattern, the maneuverability of the T-90 is lower than that of foreign tanks. Another disadvantage of the T-90 transmission is the low reverse speed - 4.8 km/h. On modern Western tanks, which use hydrostatic turning mechanisms with digital automatic control systems, the reversing speed reaches 30 km/h. The chassis also remained virtually unchanged, with the exception that the track rollers were widened by 10 mm - according to the designers, this improved the load distribution on the track.

Back in Soviet times, UKBTM received the task of developing, on the basis of Object 188, its command version, which was supposed to provide control of subordinate units during combat operations both day and night, as well as communication with higher commanders. The tank received the name T-90K (commander's) and was equipped with special equipment - a short-wave radio station P-163-50K ("Ar6alet-50K"), tank navigation equipment TNA-4-3, a telescopic antenna mast, a PAB-2M artillery compass and an AB electrical unit -1-P with a power of 1 kW, which serves to provide power to the equipment during parking, with the tank engine turned off. With an 11-meter mast antenna, the shortwave radio station R-163-50K provides stable communication at a range of up to 350 km. Despite the fact that a significant number of additional units of the fire control system and communications equipment had to be installed on the command vehicle, the combat characteristics of the T-90K were maintained at the level of the linear T-90.

Almost simultaneously with the basic “Object 188”, its export version, the “Object 188C”, was also developed, mainly characterized by lower security and differences in configuration. Outwardly, they were practically no different. Although permission to export the T-90S was received simultaneously with the adoption of the basic vehicle in 1992, the vehicle was not able to immediately break through beyond Russia. At that time, officials from Rosvooruzhenie relied on the more advanced and expensive gas turbine T-80U, which, in their opinion, was more attractive for export. The military was of the same opinion. Even in 1996, when the T-90 was officially chosen as the tank for re-equipping units of the Russian Army, the then head of the GABTU, Colonel General A.A. Galkin spoke out against the T-90, considering the T-80U to be a more promising vehicle. True, only Cyprus and South Korea managed to sell T-80U tanks abroad, and then the latter to pay off the Russian debt to this country.

A contract worth $172 million for the purchase of 41 T-80U/UK for arming the Cyprus National Guard was signed in April 1996. Delivery of the tanks began in the summer of that year and ended in June 1997. In 1996, Russia officially announced the export of 33 T-80U tanks to South Korea. For these deliveries, Russian debt in the amount of $210 million was written off. According to other sources, by 2007, South Korea already had 80 such tanks. In both cases, these were not newly produced vehicles, but vehicles from the Armed Forces. The T-90S was first exported abroad only in 1997, when it was presented at the YuEX-97 arms exhibition in Abu Dhabi. In the meantime, the search for foreign customers was ongoing, the export T-90C was slowly being improved. First of all, the characteristics of the night sighting system were improved. Even during the ground operation to liberate Kuwait - “Desert Sword”, in 1991, American and British tank crews, taking advantage of a significant advantage in target detection range in conditions of limited visibility, which provided them with the use of modern thermal imaging night vision systems, in a series of night battles 25 -February 26 inflicted heavy losses on Iraqi troops. Since the movement of Iraqi tanks during the day was practically impossible due to the air supremacy of allied aviation, tank battles, as a rule, took place at night.

Thermal imaging sights also turned out to be useful during the day, since visibility was often limited due to smoke from burning oil fields, damaged equipment, dust squalls or rain. Compared to the old second-generation infrared sights installed on the T-72 and T-90 tanks of the 1992 model, thermal imagers were devoid of many shortcomings. In particular, their work did not deteriorate in bad weather conditions, the sight was not “blind” from the flashes of shots, it did not need external illumination, which would unmask the tank (large infrared illumination spotlights disappeared from Western tanks in the late 70s). It is not surprising that foreign customers, when purchasing armored vehicles, paid great attention to the availability and quality of thermal imaging sights. But since Russia did not have its own production of thermal imaging sighting systems, the demonstration samples of the T-90S had to be equipped with Belarusian sights from the Peleng company, which used the French Catherine-FS thermal camera. Another direction for improving the T-90 turned out to be forced. When in Russia in the second half of the 90s, due to lack of demand, large-scale production of tank turret casting at ZSO (the Sergo Ordzhonikidze plant in Chelyabinsk) “died” due to lack of demand, and tank turrets cast in small batches turned out to be extremely expensive, designers had to look for a way out . Fortunately, there was a “backlog” from the times of the USSR, when the design of a tank turret for the T-72, welded from rolled armor plates, was worked out. With the same strength and protection as cast, it had less weight, in addition, the internal volume increased slightly and projectile resistance increased. The grimace of the Soviet planned economy was that the welded tower was not put into production earlier because they did not want to disrupt the established production of cast towers. Now the welded tower has been given the green light. The first welded turrets for the T-90 were manufactured in 1998 and successfully passed full-scale shelling tests at the training ground. Since 2002, all produced T-90S have already received a welded turret. A similar story happened in Ukraine. With the closure of the production of cast towers at the Mariupol plant, which equipped the T-80UD, in Kharkov at the plant named after. Malyshev also switched to a welded tower. As a result, 175 T-80UD tanks, out of 320 delivered to Pakistan under the contract signed between this country and Ukraine in 1996, were equipped with welded turrets.

Deliveries of the T-80UD to Pakistan greatly contributed to the export success of the T-90S. Pakistan's longtime rival, India, could not remain indifferent to its restless neighbor receiving a new tank division; this violated military parity in the region. On the other hand, there was no longer any hope of meeting the deadlines for the development program of India’s own Arjun tank. Therefore, given the significant number of Soviet T-72M and T-72M1 tanks available in India, the Indians naturally showed interest in the T-90. Preliminary negotiations, consultations and approvals lasted for more than two years, until in April 1999 an agreement was reached to test three T-90S in India. All three tanks were different from each other. Thermal imaging sights were different - “Nocturne” or “Essa”, only one tank had the “Shtora” system installed, two tanks had cast turrets, and the third had a welded one.

From May 8 to August, the T-90S underwent a test program in the Thar Desert, in extreme conditions - during the day the heat here reached 50 degrees Celsius. The vehicles traveled 2,000 km across this hot desert and then fired 150 rounds. The Indian military was satisfied with the test results, and a long process of agreeing on the terms of the contract began. In the east they love and know how to bargain, so the final signing of the contract took place only after almost a year and a half - on February 15, 2001 in Delhi. Under its terms, Russia undertook to supply India with 310 T-90S tanks, which was enough to rearm the tank division (by this time Pakistan has already received all 320 T-80UD tanks). Of these, 124 were assembled in Russia and delivered to the customer in finished form, and 186 tanks were to be assembled from assembly units in India itself at the state-owned HVF (Heavy Vehicles Factory) plant in the city of Avadi (Tamil Nadu). The total value of the contract was $800 million, and deliveries under it were fully completed in 2003.

So what did Indians get for their money? As a result of persistent demands, they received not just an export T-90S in its original 1992 configuration, but a vehicle that combined (in their opinion) all the best of the three models proposed for testing. It is interesting that this “Indian” T-90S was significantly superior to the T-90 of the 1992 model, supplied by Uralvagonzavod for the Russian Army. On Indian tanks, instead of the Buran-PA night sight, which was installed on Russian vehicles, a more advanced thermal imaging gunner's sight, Essa, jointly produced in France and Belarus, was installed. The commander received the PNK-4S "Agat-S" sighting and observation system. The Indians abandoned the Shtora-1 optical-electronic suppression complex, and in place of its illuminators in the front part of the turret, additional trapezoidal containers of the Kontakt-5 dynamic protection complex were mounted, as a result of which the turret’s security increased compared to Russian tanks. Interestingly, the Indians also demanded that anti-nuclear defense be strengthened. At their request, the thickness of the anti-neutron lining was almost doubled, despite the fact that the anti-nuclear protection of the Russian T-90s was already considered quite powerful. Considering that the eternal enemies - India and Pakistan - are both members of the nuclear club, such a requirement suggests that the Indian military does not rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons in a likely armed conflict with Pakistan. All Indian T-90S (except for the first forty vehicles) were equipped with welded turrets, a reinforced chassis, as well as a 1000-horsepower V-92S2 diesel engine (recall that the Russian T-90 at that time had a B-84 diesel engine with a power of 840 hp ).

In 2000, inspired by the emerging success in India, the Russians entered the T-90S to participate in an international tender for the purchase of tanks held by Malaysia. For testing, a T-90S copy, modernized after testing in India, with an air conditioner installed, was delivered to Kuala Lumpur airport. Along with the T-90S, the Polish RT-91 Twardy tank (which is a modernization of the Soviet T-72M), the Ukrainian T-84 and the Swedish light tank CV90 120 also underwent comparative tests in the tender. The tests took place from June 19 to August 21 , and the local military was mainly interested in the mobility and operational reliability of tanks in difficult local conditions. The vehicles were asked to travel about 2,800 km through the jungle, mountainous terrain, through wetlands and water obstacles. During this “race” in the very center of the jungle, the T-90, not without the “help” of a Malaysian driver (the tests were carried out by mixed Russian-Malaysian crews), was pulled off a washed-out clay road into a ditch, from where it could only be retrieved with effort, according to one version , two Hyundai excavators, and according to another, the T-90S was evacuated using a 50-ton Japanese KATO crane, paying 5 thousand dollars for this. But despite all the odds, the T-90S successfully reached the finish line.

True, the results of the Malaysian competition were quite unexpected. Despite the fact that during testing the Polish RT-91M was significantly inferior to both the Russian T-90S and the Ukrainian T-84 in most key indicators, in April 2002 the Malaysian government announced its decision to purchase 48 PT-91MZ tanks and six ARVs. WZT-4" in Poland. The total contract amount was $370 million. Russian experts claim that one Polish tank cost Malaysia approximately $4 million, or 1.2 million more than the Russian T-90S that participated in this tender. According to one version, this decision was explained by a policy of diversification - Malaysia purchased Su-30MK fighters from Russia, and the contract for tanks was given to Poland; according to another, it was due to banal corruption."

The failure in the Malaysian tender was more than compensated for by a large contract for the supply of 185 T-90 tanks to Algeria. Taking as a basis the design of the T-90S tank from 1999, supplied to India, UKBTM modified it in accordance with the requirements of the new buyer. The result was a version of the tank with the installation of an air conditioning system (given the hot climate of Algeria), as well as with an improved laser detection system, which received the factory index “Object 188CA” (“A” - Algerian) and the designation T-90CA. A prototype of the T-90SA successfully passed rigorous tests in the Algerian desert in 2005, and in January of the following year a contract was signed between Rosoboronexport and the Algerian side. Deliveries for it were fully completed in 2008, however, there was a scandal.

According to press reports, the Algerians made complaints about the configuration of the vehicles - allegedly some of the equipment installed on them was not new, but already used. In 2006, the leader of the Libyan Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi almost purchased the T-90S, but the cost of the T-90S was considered too high, and the Libyan military had to be content with purchasing modernized T-72s. In the same 2006, the Indian government, probably deciding that “there are never enough tanks,” signed a contract for the licensed production of 1000 T-90SA tanks worth $2.5 billion (to be built by 2019), and a few months later There is also an additional contract for the supply of 330 T-90SA tanks during 2007-2008, with the assembly of part of this batch of tanks in India. The ordered tanks featured a modernized chassis, an improved fire control system with an Essa thermal imager, and Indian Kanchan dynamic armor. The tank was named "Bhishma" in honor of the legendary hero of the ancient Indian epic. The matter did not stop there, and in 2007 another contract was signed for the supply of 347 T-90SA worth $1.2 billion, in the form of 124 finished tanks and 223 tank kits for licensed production. The first ten T-90SA tanks, already made in India, entered service with the 73rd Regiment of the Indian Ground Forces in the summer of 2009. In total, India intends to increase the number of T-90s in its troops to 2000 by 2020. In 2008, Indian Defense Minister D. Singh called the T-90 “the second deterrent after nuclear weapons” in the conflict with Pakistan.

But let's return to Russia. Here, in 2004, the next stage in the history of the T-90 development began. After a many-year break, the Russian Ministry of Defense ordered 14 tanks from Uralvagonzavod (as mentioned above, the T-90 has not been produced for Russia since 1998). However, apparently, the Russian military, due to limited funding, was so unaccustomed to ordering weapons and out of touch with the realities of production that they ordered the “Object 188” of the 1992 model, which, naturally, over the past 12 years has already become significantly outdated and inferior even to export T- 90C supplied to India. Although the Customer was eventually convinced to make changes to the design of the tank that had already been mastered by the plant, the matter was complicated by the fact that they were not ordered by the military department, and therefore were not tested or accepted. Therefore, in order to “legalize” new design solutions, we had to receive technical specifications from the Customer for ready-made components, coordinate the stages of ongoing development work, etc. and so on. The tank, modernized in 2004 for the Russian Army, received the internal factory designation “Object 188A1” and had a number of important improvements compared to the “Object 188” of the 1992 model,

First of all, instead of the 840-horsepower V-84 engine, a 1000-horsepower V-92S2 diesel engine was installed (it was also possible to install a 1200-horsepower V-99 diesel engine). The previous cast turret was replaced with a reinforced welded one with frontal parts measuring up to 950 mm, which significantly increased its resistance against BOPS/KS. The tank was armed with a modernized 125-mm 2A46M-5 smoothbore gun. This gun had half the thickness of the muzzle part of the pipe (0.4 mm instead of 0.8 mm), the cradle neck was extended by 160 mm with two play-selecting devices. In addition, both guides of the cradle were made as a prism. All this made it possible to reduce the average dispersion of projectiles by 15%. The gun stabilizer was replaced, which doubled the aiming speed and improved the accuracy of firing on the move. The T01-K05 Buran-M thermal imager was used as a night sight. Based on an analysis of the experience of battles in Chechnya and other regional conflicts, a set of measures was implemented to strengthen the local protection of tank elements vulnerable to RPG fire, in particular, the protection of fuel tanks was improved. An upgraded Shtora optical-electronic countermeasures complex has also been installed. In this form, the improved vehicle was put into service in 2005 under the army name T-90A. In 2004 and 2005, the military ordered and received 14 and 18 T-90A tanks (two of them with a cast turret in the commander's version). Most of the first T-90A entered service with the 2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Taman Order of the October Revolution Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division named after. Kalinin, stationed near Moscow.

Starting in 2006, a more modern second-generation Essa thermal imager with a Catherine FC matrix, integrated with the main sight and its rangefinder channel, began to be installed on all T-90As under construction, this made it possible to increase the night vision range from 1800 to 4000 m. In 2006 In 2007 and 2007, 31 tanks were produced, and in 2008 and 2009, production volume doubled - 62 vehicles were built per year. Thus, from 2004 to 2009 inclusive, 30 T-90A (with Buran-M), 180 T-90A (with Essa), 2 command T-90K (with Buran-M) and six command T-90AK (with Essa), or a total of 218 tanks. In 2010, purchases were increased to 63 T-90A tanks per year, but this was the “last push” - the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that from 2011 it would stop purchasing T-90A tanks for the Russian Army. This decision was somewhat unexpected; after all, the T-90 tank had a good reputation in Russia, and by 2010 it had become the best-selling of the newly built tanks on the world market - the volume of export deliveries of T-90S was about 1000 units .

The position of the military was explained by the then Russian Minister of Defense A. Serdyukov, who said that the military decided to refuse to purchase T-90 tanks because of their high cost. In addition, according to Serdyukov, the army currently does not experience a shortage of heavy armored vehicles - the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have more than 10 thousand tanks, and, according to him, the Ministry of Defense no longer wants to purchase old developments. Here, it is necessary to clarify that over the past years, the Russian Ministry of Defense has already curtailed several tank projects. Thus, in the spring of 2010, it was announced that funding for the UKBTM project to create the newest Russian T-95 tank was stopped, also due to its high cost. Previously, the work of the Omsk Design Bureau of Transport Engineering on the Black Eagle tank (modification T-80U) was stopped. So far, the Ministry of Defense has not abandoned only one tank project - after harsh statements addressed to tank builders, the department announced the creation of a fundamentally new tank based on the Armata universal tracked platform,

The project was officially approved in March 2012. It is being developed by UKBTM. The fundamental difference between the "Armata" and the T-90 should be the so-called carriage layout - the turret will house a remote-controlled gun along with ammunition. The crew will be housed in an armored capsule. Tankers will receive information about the situation on the battlefield from thermal imaging, television and laser sensors on the monitor screen. It is expected that delivery of the first main battle tanks on this platform to the troops will begin in 2015. In the future, the new Armata should replace all T-72 and T-80. But let's return to the T-90. Indeed, its cost grew from year to year: in 2004 it was 36 million rubles, at the end of 2006 - 42 million rubles, and at the beginning of 2007 - the T-90A (“Object 188A1”) cost 56 million . rub. In 2010, the purchase price of the T-90 under contracts for the supply of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was 70 million rubles, and in 2011 the cost of the new T-90 increased noticeably and reached 118 million rubles. During 2011, other high-ranking military officials also criticized the T-90. In March, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Colonel General A. Postnikov, said that the T-90 cannot withstand competition with NATO and Chinese equipment and at the same time is so expensive that instead of one machine for 118 million rubles you can buy as many as three higher quality German Leopards "(However, Postnikov did not specify from whom exactly he was going to buy three Leopards for 118 million rubles, since in 2011 the average cost of just one Leopard 2A6 was 6 million dollars, or about 172 million rubles ). Also, according to him, the T-90 does not represent anything new and “is in fact the 17th modification of the Soviet T-72, produced since 1973.” In September, the head of the Russian General Staff, Army General N. Makarov, for his part, attacked the T-90. He stated that the tank only partially meets the requirements of the Ministry of Defense and has a lot of shortcomings. According to the general, by and large, the designers succeeded only with the turret (probably referring to the T-90MS turret).

In addition to the financial and technical side, the refusal to purchase the T-90 was obviously associated with changed views on methods of conducting armed struggle. The evolution of modern weapons has led to the massive use of drones, robotic combat systems, smart missiles, etc. Accordingly, there is an opinion in the Russian General Staff that the time of tanks has generally passed and that tank formations in the structure of the army of the future have no prospects, although not all experts are sure that wars will very soon become “contactless.” It must be said that the discussion about the place and role of main battle tanks in modern armies is also ongoing in the United States. Previously, the United States planned to completely abandon the use of armored units by 2030, switching first to the Stryker brigade combat teams, and then to the new concept of “Future Combat Systems”. Based on the fact that the future US army will primarily be of an “expeditionary” nature, a number of US military personnel believe that there will be no need for a large number of heavy armored vehicles.