Once again, Russia suffered a painful defeat in the world arms market. This time, the tender for the supply of 200 modern tanks for the Thai army was lost. The main battle tank of the modern Russian army, the T-90, proposed by our state, lost to the Ukrainian T-84 "Oplot". The amount of the contract was estimated at $ 230 million, and now this money will go to Ukraine. It should be noted that another participant in the tender lost, the Leopard-2 2A4 tank made in Germany. But you must admit this is a weak consolation.
Perhaps the decisive role in Thailand's refusal to choose the T-90 as a new tank for its army was played by the scandalous statements of Alexander Postnikov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Ground Forces, regarding the technical characteristics of the tank, which has been in service with the Russian army since 1992. Postnikov in mid-March rather dismissively spoke about the technical data of the combat vehicle, which, according to him, is nothing modern and in reality is nothing more than "the 17th modification of the Soviet T-72, which has been produced since 1973".
A little later, when the scandal became a public fact, the Russian Ministry of Defense, with apparent reluctance, tried to justify the failed general by saying that he, obviously, simply did not know that there were journalists in the assembly hall. Considering this, he was not shy about expressions during the performance. It would be better, of course, the Ministry of Defense did not make such explanations. They only made matters worse. From this explanation it followed that as a rule "to people" we present one truth about our weapons, and at closed meetings we discuss something completely different.
There is no exact certainty that there is a connection between the words and statements of the Russian commander-in-chief about the Russian main battle tank that have thundered all over the world, and Bangkok's preference in favor of Ukraine. It is possible that in Thailand itself, everything was already decided in favor of Ukrainian competitors. However, it is absolutely certain that a terrible and crushing blow has been dealt to the future prospects for the export of the T-90, and, therefore, on one of the most profitable items - the country's arms export. In reality, even if the commander of the Russian Ground Forces is sure that the T-90 tank does not deserve a good word, who will pay millions of dollars for it?
It should be noted that this is the second victory of Ukraine in the fight against Russia for export millions. The events in the mid-1990s can be called the first serious defeat for Russia. Then Moscow, despite all its efforts, failed to disrupt the contract for the supply of 320 T-80UD tanks made in Ukraine to Pakistan. The total amount stipulated in that contract was $ 650 million.
It was argued in Russia that in fact the deal with Pakistan was absolutely unnecessary for a variety of reasons. First, the contract could be negatively perceived by the main buyers of Russian weapons in the region - the Indians. It is unnecessary to recall their negative relations with the Pakistanis in view of the numerous reports of armed clashes between the countries. Secondly, Russia does not need any rivals in the traditional foreign markets, which were first mastered by Soviet and later Russian tank builders. Considering that both Ukraine and Russia entered those markets with very similar and sometimes completely identical samples. Perhaps we could then, given the political overtones, influence the fate of this contract. But obviously, as in most cases, arrogance got in the way.
In Ukraine in those years there was a problem with tank guns, which were made in Russia, and there was even a joke at the Ministry of Defense: "Ukrainians will put birch trunks on their tanks." A little time passed and Ukraine proved that all the jokes are what Russia will get from the tank trade on the world arms market. It is not for nothing that the well-known Kharkov Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau named after V. I. A. A. Morozov was recognized as the strongest tank building school in the USSR. They quickly found a way to do without the Russian cannons. It turned out that the production of tank guns can be quickly established at the plant. Frunze in the city of Sumy, which previously produced heavy-duty pipes for the needs of oil and gas production. 95% of the existing equipment of the enterprise was suitable for the new task. In the early spring of 1998, instead of peaceful pipes, the first tank gun barrel came off the factory conveyor line. The PKT and Utes machine guns, which are produced by the plant in the Russian Kovrov, were replaced by the Ukrainians with similar samples made in Bulgaria. It turned out a little cheaper. Earlier, the first several dozen T-80UDs were sent from Nikolaev to Pakistan by sea, which were manufactured according to outdated Soviet plans and remained in Kharkov due to the collapse of the state. Such an inconvenient contract for Russia was fulfilled by Ukraine to the last decimal point. It was from that moment on that Russian tank builders had their most serious competitor on the international arms market for the first time.
Obviously, those Pakistani dollars that Ukraine received for its tanks played a decisive role in the creation of a new combat vehicle in Kharkov - the T-84 tank ("Oplot"). For example, Colonel General Sergei Maev, former head of the Main Directorate of Armored Armaments of the Russian Ministry of Defense, thinks quite patriotically that the Oplot tank is just “a significantly deteriorated copy of our T-90”. In Ukraine, of course, they adhere to a completely opposite point of view.
But all these disputes must be left to the judgment of specialists. We can note the obvious: both the Russian T-90 and the Ukrainian T-84 "Oplot" have common technological and design roots. Their basic models were developed in the USSR and differ mainly in the chassis and power plant. The base T-90 model is equipped with the V-84 engine, the power of which is 840 hp. The T-84 "Oplot" is equipped with a 6TD-2 two-stroke diesel engine, which has a horizontal arrangement of cylinders with a capacity of 1000 hp. Undoubtedly, both tanks are an improved T-64, created about 50 years ago.
There is also a difference in the protection of armor, the fire control system from standard weapons, and in something else. For example, a Ukrainian vehicle is controlled by a steering wheel, not levers - tankers claim that this is much more convenient. The tank is equipped with an air conditioner, which the creators of the T-90 did not care about installing.
Another important detail. It is obvious that the T-84 "Oplot" tank was created only for export purposes. Due to the high price in the range of 2.5 million dollars, the Ukrainian army cannot afford it. For its own armed forces, since 2005, Ukraine has been gradually purchasing the T-64BM "Bulat" created there in Kharkov, which is, although a less powerful, but much cheaper modification of the old Soviet T-64 tank.
But what to expect now on the Russian arms market? Will the country still be able to take a bite out of the huge international tank pie? Obviously, with the T-90, which Postnikov did not like so much and lost the lead in the Thai tender to Oplot, the chances are obviously low. Perhaps, in this situation, the new Russian T-95 tank, the creation of which took place behind a curtain of a terrible secret, could help in the past fifteen years. They claim that this would undoubtedly become a new word in tank building. Just two years ago, Nikolai Makarov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, promised that the T-95 would be put into service in the near future. A little time passed and the General Staff suddenly decided that tanks were not needed in the modern army at all. In the Russian army, their number is limited to only 2 thousand. In view of a new look at the future of the army, work on the almost finished T-95 was curtailed.
Colonel-General Mayev said that the refusal to further develop the T-95 was another huge mistake. He explained his vision of the situation as follows: management. I regret that we could not put the T-95 next to the Leopard of the Future, I am sure that the whole of Europe would be shocked to see what modern solutions were used in this tank. It would truly be a sensation! I can confidently assure that what we have put into the T-95 combat vehicle will appear in the hands of the Americans or the Germans no earlier than in ten years. Naturally, these will be technological and design solutions in a completely new form, and it is a shame that the ideology that we have put into this tank will “shoot” there, in the West, but not here. For what reason was "hacked to death"? For me personally, this is an incomprehensible and very big question. The tank was already at the exit. It was only necessary to build another model of a combat vehicle and carry out sensible various state tests, based on their results, modify the machine and prepare it for production! This tank would surely provide the Russian Armed Forces with a huge advantage over the next 20 years. And all those design know-how that were incorporated into it, undoubtedly, would become a kind of locomotive that would carry on itself all the developments in the military-technical industry for the ground forces for another half century! On the T-95, new technological solutions were used for the first time in terms of the layout of the machine! Of course, these developments and technologies have not disappeared anywhere, but the trouble is that they will remain so, not implemented."
