Last week, in the Russian-language segment of the World Wide Web, information appeared that a new generation tank would be created in Russia. T-90AM … It is not difficult to see from the designation that it will be a modernized T-90, but representatives of Uralvagonzavod emphasize that this will be a "very deep modernization" of the T-90, which will make it possible to make a significant step forward compared to all existing modern foreign counterparts. They also announced that the new combat vehicle will be presented to the general public at an exhibition in Nizhny Tagil, which will be held in early autumn this year.
Oleg Sienko, General Director of NPK Uralvagonzavod, also shared valuable information with the press: “At the arms exhibition, which will take place in Nizhny Tagil on September 8-11, we will present the next generation T-90AM combat vehicle. The Ministry of Defense is declassifying the new tank, it has already agreed to a passport look, and we will be showing the new tank in action at the exhibition."
“At the meeting in December 2009, we heard a lot of what I think is fair criticism of us from the military. The ministry's experts pointed out the shortcomings of the new tank - these are the engine, gearbox, charge, all-round visibility and many other minor shortcomings. At the moment, the new combat vehicle has been finalized taking into account all the comments of the Ministry of Defense,”Sienko said.
The press service of Uralvagonzavod has specified what changes have been made. In particular, the gearbox, the engine (which also received 130 hp power), as well as the panoramic view, the barrel and a completely different, protected machine gun mount were made to meet the requirements. Among the innovations are also an improved PTC (software and hardware complex) and an improved automatic loader.
While all the characteristics of the new combat vehicle are classified information.
Now, within the framework of the existing legislation, the process of lifting the secrecy is underway, with a positive decision, the tank will be presented at the exhibition.
More is known about the "parent" of the new vehicle, the T-90 tank. The T-90, originally designated T-72BM, began to be developed as a modernization of the T-72B tank in the mid-1980s. In 1992, the T-72BM, already under the designation T-90, was adopted as the main battle tank of the Russian army.
T-72B
The T-90 has the same chassis and power plant as the T-72. At the same time, the vehicle has the latest guided weapon system and more powerful protection, which includes a complex of active protection and electronic suppression systems.
The T-90 is armed with a 125mm smoothbore cannon, a 7.62mm machine gun paired with a cannon, and a NSVT heavy anti-aircraft machine gun.
By the way, military experts point out the advantage of the T-90 over its Western counterparts precisely in the issue of weapons. The firing range of guided missiles in the T-90 is approximately twice the range of effective fire of foreign tanks, which accordingly allows, without entering the affected area, to destroy enemy targets. The weakest point of the T-90 is its relatively low survivability, due to the peculiarity of the placement of the ammunition, which is in no way isolated from the crew and is located in the fighting compartment of the tank, when it detonates, the death of both the crew and the vehicle itself is almost inevitable.
However, according to Lieutenant General Yuri Kovalenko, who at one time received a state prize for the development and implementation of the T-90 tank, the Ural designers managed to eliminate these shortcomings. “The Uralites have experience in removing ammunition from the hull, from the command department. There are also loading mechanisms to protect the crew from ammunition explosions. They also developed some things that will eliminate the explosion and fire hazard of the new tank,”said Kovalenko.
“Now, in terms of protection and survivability, we are ahead of other countries - both the active protection complex and the built-in dynamic protection of the T-90 are definitely much more perfect and more reliable than all Western models. In these matters, we surpass the potential enemy at times, - this is how the general estimated the T-90.
“While there is a lack of command control, it is necessary to ensure that control facilities can quickly and efficiently distribute targets and promptly set tasks for the destruction of enemy fire weapons. Active work is underway in this direction, if we achieve results, we will reach the most advanced level in the world,”concluded Kovalenko.
