page_title: T-90
section_title: Production and service history
hierarchical_section_title: T-90 / Production and service history
caption_attribution_description: T-90 snorkel test
context_page_description: The T-90 is a third-generation Russian battle tank that entered service in 1993. The tank is a modern variation of the T-72B and incorporates many features found on the T-80U. Originally called the T-72BU, but later renamed to T-90, it is an advanced tank in service with Russian Ground Forces and the Naval Infantry. The T-90 uses a 125 mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, the 1A45T fire-control system, an upgraded engine, and gunner's thermal sight. Standard protective measures include a blend of steel and composite armour, smoke grenade dischargers, Kontakt-5 explosive-reactive armour and the Shtora infrared ATGM jamming system. It was designed and built by Uralvagonzavod, in Nizhny Tagil, Russia.
context_section_description: The T-72BU was officially accepted into service on 5 October 1992 by the Russian Ministry of Defence and simultaneously renamed as the T-90 for marketing and propaganda purposes aimed at distancing the new type from existing T-72 variants.
  The principal upgrade in the T-90 is the incorporation of a slightly modified form of the T-80U's more sophisticated 1A45T Irtysh fire control system and an upgraded V-84MS multi-fuel engine developing 830 hp (620 kW). The T-90 was manufactured at the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil, with low-level production being carried out since 1993 and virtually ceasing towards the end of the 1990s for the native market. Less than 200 T-90 tanks were delivered to the Russian Ground Forces before production was resumed in 2005 of an upgraded version.
  By September 1995, some 107 T-90 tanks had been produced, located in the Siberian Military District.
  Facing tapering domestic orders and with the permanent closure of the last turret casting line in the former USSR, owned by Azovstal in Mariupol, Ukraine, the designers at Uralvagonzavod together with experts from NII Stali (Scientific Research Institute of Steel) using trials data obtained from the Soviet-era, created a new, welded turret to offer further improvement and attract foreign buyers for the T-90. India signaled interest in the T-90 in response to Pakistan's acquisition of 320 Ukrainian T-84 tanks, which was an intuitive decision considering India held rights to fully manufacture the T-72M1 in Avadi, with production being easily adapted to assemble the T-90.
  The first 42 complete Indian tanks were delivered in 2001 and were designated T-90S (Object 188S), still equipped with the older cast turrets of the early series (this exhausted the remaining stocks of cast turrets warehoused at Nizhny Tagil) and powered by the V-84 engine making 840 hp (618 kW). This was followed up next year with delivery of 82 vehicles, now equipped with the new welded turrets and the V-92S2 engine, generating 1,000 hp (735 kW). The initial contract stipulated the following batch of 186 tanks—now officially called the Bhishma—to be completed in India from Russian-supplied kits, and then gradually replaced with domestically manufactured parts, but the low rate of domestic Indian production compelled the Indian authorities to place an additional order for 124 complete vehicles in 2007 from Uralvagonzavod.
  In 2005 the Russian army resumed delivery of the T-90, requesting the "original" specification for the vehicle with a cast turret. But with the new order numbering a paltry 14 tanks, and the large capital investment required to set up production of new cast turrets, the Russian Ministry of Defence agreed on a new configuration very close to the Indian T-90S, which was expeditiously accepted into service without any trials as the Object 188A1 or T-90A. That same year saw delivery of an additional 18 new tanks - enough to equip approximately five tank platoons. These new Russian tanks were powered by the V-92S2 engine, carried a T01-K05 Buran-M gunner's sight (passive-active night-vision channel with an EPM-59G Mirage-K matrix and a maximum observation distance of 1,800 m) and were protected by the most recent Kontakt-5 reactive armor with 4S22 explosive tiles.
  The years 2006-2007 saw the delivery of 31 T-90A tanks each, now fitted with entirely passive ESSA main gunner's sights supplied by Peleng in Belarus and using the 2nd-generation thermal camera Catherine-FC from Thales, as well as improved 4S23 ERA tiles. The joint venture established on the basis of JSC Volzhsky Optical and Mechanical Plant" (VOMZ) and Thales Optronics, produced Catherine-FC thermal imaging devices, which were further used to develop "ESSA", "PLISA" and "SOSNA-U" sighting systems produced for the Russian armoured vehicles, including T-72B3 tanks and export versions of T-90S (exported to India, Algeria and Azerbaijan). Since 2012, Russia was able to produce 3rd-generation Catherine-XP cameras based on QWIP matrix technology.
  In 2012, the Russian-made commander combined sample supervisory-si
caption: An early series T-90 with cast turret during a military exercise in Russia, demonstrating deep fording.
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