A modern army cannot exist without constant renewal of military equipment and weapons. This statement also applies to heavy armored vehicles. Despite experts' predictions that in the near future tanks will disappear from the battlefields altogether, at the moment they play, at times, a decisive role in armed confrontations. A vivid example is the war in Iraq, when precisely due to the firepower and mobility of its tank units, the US army was able to rapidly advance from the country's borders to its capital.
Russia possesses the most advanced technologies in the development of space weapons, but what can its army oppose in a ground confrontation? Quite often, in various media you can find critical statements that the T-90 tank in its current form does not meet the requirements for a modern combat vehicle. The Germans believe that their modern "Leopard" is the best in the world and there is no equal to it in the confrontation, and even more so it is not a competitor to it, the Russian T-90. Unfortunately, not only the Germans claim that our tank is morally and technically outdated, this was also stated by Alexander Postnikov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Ground Forces. In his statement in early March, he spoke in an extremely dismissive manner about the technical data of the tank, which has nothing modern, and in reality it is just another modification of the Soviet T-72, which was created back in 1973. Of course, such words, and even from the lips of a high-ranking official, give cause for thought, is the T-90 so good against the background of foreign models of similar military equipment? To get an answer, consider the basic data of the T-90 and the German "Leopard", as one of the main competitors.
Tank protection
T-90 possesses sharply differentiated projectile armor protection. The main material used for the manufacture of the tank hull is armor steel. To protect the frontal part of the turret, as well as the frontal plate of the hull, multilayer composite armor is used. The shape of the vehicle's armored body and its layout have not changed much compared to the T-72, but the protection has increased in comparison with its predecessor due to the use of modern composite armor. The exact details of the booking remain classified. The armor resistance against shelling by sub-caliber armor-piercing feathered projectiles, taking into account the built-in modern explosive reactive armor, is estimated to be equivalent to 800-830 mm of armor steel. The durability of the armor of the hull and turret when fired with cumulative ammunition is estimated at 1150-1350 mm. The indicated data refer to the maximum level of reservation, namely the frontal part of the hull and turret, but the tank also has weakened zones: a section of the driver's observation device, as well as sections of the turret on the sides of the gun embrasure. In addition to traditional armor and dynamic protection, the tank is equipped with an active protection system, which consists of a modern Shtora-1 electronic-optical suppression system. The main purpose of the complex is to protect against damage by anti-tank guided missiles. It includes an electronic-optical suppression station and a system for installing external camouflage curtains.
"Leopard" unlike the T-90, it has a much lower degree of protection. First of all, this is due to the requirement of the army leadership in terms of maintaining the total weight at the level of 50 tons. An increase in the level of protection was achieved through the use of modern welded structures of the tower and hull with the use of multilayer armor, as well as a set of improved structural and layout measures. Due to the weakening of the armor level of the roof of the hull and turret, as well as the sides, the thickness of the armor on the frontal fragments was increased. The upper frontal plate of the tank hull has a significant angle of inclination (81 °), the tower is made in a wedge-shaped shape. The frontal armor provides the equivalent of sheet armor of about 1000 mm when fired with cumulative ammunition and 700 mm when fired with armor-piercing sub-caliber ammunition. The tank is equipped with a high-speed automatic NPO complex, smoke grenade launchers, the charges of which are painted with special dyes. One of the recognized advantages is the high degree of protection of the crew when armor is damaged. This is due to the fact that the ammunition and fuel are reliably isolated from the crew. The combat stowage is equipped with hinged plates that take the energy of the explosion out. A number of elements used in the construction also serve as additional protection. Fuel tanks are located in the front, the most protected part of the fenders, which reduces the likelihood of damage to the driver-mechanic when firing from the sides. The sides of the hull are additionally protected by rubber screens, reinforced with armor plates.
Armament
The main armament of the Russian T-90 is a smoothbore 125-mm cannon 2A46M with a barrel length of 48 calibers / 6000 mm, which is located in the frontal part of the tower in a coaxial mount with a large-caliber machine gun on trunnions and stabilized in two parallel planes by the 2E42-4 "Jasmine" system. The gun is equipped with an automatic loader and has the ability to fire guided weapons. When firing with armor-piercing cumulative and sub-caliber ammunition, the maximum sighting range is 4000 m, guided missile ammunition - 5000 m, high-explosive fragmentation ammunition - up to 10 000 m. In addition to the widely used artillery weapons, the tank has the ability to fire anti-tank guided missiles of the 9M119M system. The missiles are launched using the main weapon, the missiles are guided by a laser beam in manual or semi-automatic mode. The guided weapon system allows you to fire with the probability of hitting a target close to one at moving at a speed of up to 70 km / h or stationary targets at a distance of 100 to 5000 m, in a static position of the tank or in motion at a speed of no more than 30 km / h. To conduct aimed fire in conditions of poor visibility and at night, the tank uses the Essa sight, into which the Catherine-FC thermal imaging camera is integrated. The sighting system consists of a thermal imaging camera, which is stabilized in two planes. With the help of the camera, the tank commander and gunner can constantly monitor the terrain from separate screens, as well as carry out precise control of weapons using a standard fire control system.
The main weapons "Leopard" is a 120 mm smoothbore cannon. Barrel length 5520 mm. Sighting range: in a static position - 3,500 m, in motion - 2,500 m. The main sight is the EMES-12, which was specially developed for this tank model by Zeiss. The sight consists of built-in laser and stereoscopic rangefinders. The combination of two different rangefinders allows you to increase the accuracy and reliability of measuring the distance to the target. As an auxiliary equipment, the gunner can use the monocular periscope sight of the model - TZF-1A. The tank commander has a PERI-R-12 model panoramic periscope sight, in which the line of sight is stabilized. The tank commander has the ability to independently direct the gun, for which the synchronization mechanism of the axis of the gun barrel and the optical axis of the sight is used. For observation in conditions of poor visibility and at night, observation devices with optoelectronic amplifiers and active IR night observation devices are used. Fire control systems of the FLER-H computer generate data for firing taking into account the distance to the target, atmospheric conditions, the spatial position of the tank, and the type of ammunition. For accurate aiming, the gunner only needs to select a target and place a marker on it. To detect camouflaged targets, a special sensor is used that reacts to their thermal radiation.
Power units
On T-90 a diesel engine with a capacity of 840 hp was installed (on some modifications the power of the engines was increased to 1000 hp) of liquid cooling V-84MS. These diesels are truly multi-fuel and can run not only on diesel fuel, but also on kerosene and gasoline, and without losing power. Special bellows are installed on the V-84MS collectors, which allow mixing exhaust gases with air, which not only improves the temperature regime for the reliable operation of the collectors, but also reduces the thermal visibility of the tank.
Power point "Leopard" combined into a single structural complex. The engine in the engine compartment is located along the body of the tank, and a fire-resistant partition is placed between the compartment itself and the fighting compartment. The tank is equipped with a multi-fuel V-shaped 12-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine MB 873 with a capacity of 1500 hp.
Outcome
The characteristics listed above allow for a small comparison between the highly publicized German Leopard and the Russian T-90. Obviously, in terms of the level of protection and armament, our tank is much superior to the main German tank. The only thing that the T-90 is losing is in the power plant. This is due not only to the power advantage, but also to the amount of time required to replace the engine. So, when repairing a T-90, mechanics will need about 6 hours to replace it, and in a German tank, 15 minutes are enough for this.
The advantage of the Russian tank is obvious, and given the fact that the T-90 can aim fire at a distance of 5000 m, and the Leopard only 3000 m, there is little doubt that the German tank will be able to approach the Russian at all on the battlefield. In commercial terms, the T-90 also looks more attractive, its price is two times lower than the Leopard.
