Our military department announced that T-90M tanks will begin to enter the troops.
If we ignore the rosy cheers-assurances that "by 2027 there will be 900 truly modern tanks in the troops", nevertheless, it will still be necessary to live up to 2027 and remember this promise, then in reality today the situation is as follows: the T-90M can become the frame of the tank troops. If everything goes as it should.
Alexander Potapov (General Director of Uralvagonzavod), no later than February 13, cautiously commented on the plans in the spirit of “I think we will see them this year”.
Here I must say that Alexander Valerievich meant NEW tanks. That is, completely new. And this is only part of the plan. Since the main work is the modernization of T-90A tanks produced in 2004-2011 to the level of T-90M.
In general, a total of three contracts have been concluded for 160 vehicles. Of these, 40 will be new, and 120 will be upgraded to the T-90M level. Basically, the modernization concerned the electronic filling of the fire control system, in particular, target tracking and the installation of new dynamic protection on the tower. The systems have been tested properly, now it's up to the implementation.
In 2020, the plant will have to ship at least 15 new tanks.
The figure, let's say, is not impressive. Both general and promising for the year. However, do not rush, you really need to figure it out.
Let's start with the number 160.
As far as I understand, it will have to be divided. For a certain number of battalions, which will be armed with these tanks. It is the battalions, since after all, the battalion is our main tactical unit.
Digits "160" are not divisible by 31 at all. It is the 31st tank that is in service with the tank battalion in the tank regiment. So, we are looking at a tank battalion as part of an SMR. And it contains 40 tanks. Better now. The files, as Mikhail Zadornov, now deceased, used to say, came together.
So, as part of the rearmament program with new T-90Ms, it is planned to equip 4 tank battalions in motorized rifle regiments.
Many? Few?
Well, the French have 226 Leclercs in the ground forces today. The Germans have 224 Leopard-2s in stock and almost 300 more in reserve. The Italians have 200 Ariete and 120 Leopards.
If you look like that, it is quite comparable with the armies of our potential …
That is, 160 tanks or 4 tank battalions as part of some kind of MSD, there is no point in breaking up, there will still be a difference in service, most likely, or some kind of brigade.
Personally, I like the idea of a brigade armed with such tanks better. Looks very serious.
But let's think about the question: how timely, justified and useful is all this?
I think that this initiative of the Ministry of Defense is both timely and useful at the same time.
As if it is already quite clear that there will be no "Armata", but the T-72, although it is a B3 (and even a B3m), it is still a T-72, no matter what Yuri Borisov says. This is a tank, which, alas, is almost (and with development and completely) fifty years old.
And I don’t care how well it is bought, as Mr. Deputy Prime Minister Borisov has repeatedly stated, that it’s not an indicator of fighting qualities. You can buy for various reasons.
The T-72 is a tank from the middle of the last century, no matter how much you try to modernize it, it will not become modern. Alas. And let's finish on that topic of an early armored beater (anniversary is just 50 in Latin).
But the potential of the T-90 is not something that has not been fully disclosed, today we can confidently say from the experience of working with the T-72: they have not even approached the middle. Therefore, the beginning of modernization will be a very, very significant step.
Obviously, first of all, tanks of the T-90A model, which were produced not so long ago, from 2004 to 2011, fall under the modernization. Re-equipment of these vehicles will definitely not be as laborious and time-consuming as tanks of earlier production periods.
The experience of using the T-90 in the Indian Armed Forces has shown how serious the T-90 is when used correctly. The fact that the Ministry of Defense has made such a decision will only benefit our armed forces.
And here you can ask yourself the question: how much will the combat potential of the Russian ground forces increase?
160 tanks - well, we have already come to the conclusion that this is a little, but not a little. But in order to confidently talk about some kind of milestones in 5-7 years, it is worth really thinking a little more broadly.
And look at the warehouses. This is in order to really see and assess the prospect of the modernization that has begun, if any.
I will express my opinion that it has, if everything goes as we think. Because the entire volume of T-90 tanks in the troops and at storage bases today is estimated at about 550 units.
160 units out of 550 available in the troops and at storage bases is a third.
That is, the idea itself to modernize 160 vehicles will not have such a significant impact on the combat capabilities of our ground forces in general and tank forces in particular, but in the case of modernization in subsequent years, the remaining T-90s plus the release of new tanks, as mentioned in the program - this is already a more serious alignment.
Do not forget that as the upgraded T-90M tanks enter the troops, crews will be trained for them, the technical base will be improved, and the technical personnel will be retrained. And over time, with the arrival of only 100-150 new vehicles from factories and the modernization of all T-90s available in warehouses and storage bases, we will be able to talk about 7-8 shelves, fully equipped with T-90M tanks. As a result, it gives 3-4 tank brigades or 2 tank divisions.
But this is quite a serious force that can really greatly increase the combat capabilities of Russian tank forces.
And not at the expense of the front "Armata", which according to our modern principles will be brought to mind for another 10 years, but at the expense of the tank, which proved to be excellent in combat conditions. Not with us, unfortunately (or fortunately), but in service in another state, but nevertheless, the T-90M is a real opportunity to strengthen our defense capability. And the offensive power will not be lost either.
The main thing is for the program to really work, and not to “move to the right” for 15 years, as it often happens in our country lately.
The idea is quite decent, let's see the implementation.
