T - 90 The T - 90 is a Russian third - generation main battle tank that is essentially a modernisation of the T - 72 B , incorporating many features of the T - 80 U ( it was originally to be called the T - 72BU , later renamed to T - 90 ) . It is currently the most modern tank in service with the Russian Ground Forces and Naval Infantry . Although a development of the T - 72 , the T - 90 uses a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore tank gun , 1G46 gunner sights , a new engine , and thermal sight s . Standard protective measures include a blend of steel , composite armour , Smoke mortars , Kontakt - 5 explosive - reactive armor , laser warning receiver s , Nakidka camouflage and the Shtora infrared ATGM jamming system . The EMT - 7 electromagnetic pulse ( EMP ) creator has been used in testing but not fitted to T - 90s in active service . It is designed and built by Uralvagonzavod , in Nizhny Tagil , Russia . Since 2011 , the Russian armed forces have ceased ordering the T - 90 , and are instead waiting for the development of the Universal Combat Platform T - 99 that is expected to enter service in 2020 . Development . By 1992 , the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it could no longer afford to manufacture two main battle tanks in parallel . Since both the " quality " T - 80U and the cheaper " quantity " T - 72B were being built at different plants , and each plant was critical to the economy of its city , the government gave small orders to both . Omsk built five T - 80Us and Nizhny Tagil built fifteen T - 72s , and both built more in the hopes of winning large export orders . Nizhny Tagil had built a few T - 72BAs , T - 72Bs upgraded with a third generation add - on explosive reactive armour ( ERA ) called Kontakt - 5 , which was already in service on the T - 80U . To further improve the T - 72 ' s export prospects and its chances of being selected as Russia ' s sole production main battle tank , the T - 80U ' s more sophisticated fire control system was also added to produce a vehicle designated T - 72BU . The T - 90 was developed by the Kartsev - Venediktov Design Bureau at the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil . The production model is based on the T - 72BM , with some added features from the T - 80 series . The T - 90 with an 830 hp ( 620 kW ) engine went into low - level production in 1993 , based on a prototype designated T - 88 . It features a new generation of Kontakt - 5 explosive reactive armor on its hull and turret . Of conventional layout , the T - 90 represents a major upgrade to every system in the T - 72 , including the main gun . The T - 90S have been identified as export model . The references to a T - 90E appear to be unsubstantiated . The T - 90 is fitted with a " three - tiered " protection system : the first tier is the composite armour in the turret , second tier is third generation Kontakt - 5 ERA and third tier is a Shtora - 1 countermeasures suite . T - 90s were used in combat for the first time during the invasion of Dagestan in 1999 . Production and service history . The Russian Defence Ministry made a selection of a single main battle tank ( MBT ) in 1995 . The T - 80 was more expensive and its delicate , fuel - hungry gas turbine engine provided a questionable advantage . In addition , the older T - 80BV tanks performed poorly in urban combat in the First Chechen War . By September 1995 , some 107 T - 90 tanks had been produced , located in the Siberian Military District . By mid - 1996 some 107 T - 90s had gone into service in the Far Eastern Military District . 1999 saw the appearance of a new model of T - 90 , featuring the fully welded turret of the Object 187 experimental MBT instead of the original T - 90 ' s cast turret . This new model is called " Vladimir " in honour of T - 90 Chief Designer Vladimir Potkin , who died in 1999 . It is unknown how this design affects the protection and layout of the turret , or whether the tank ' s hull armour layout was changed . The T - 90A saw combat action during the 1999 Chechen invasion of Dagestan . According to Moscow Defense Brief , one T - 90 was hit by seven RPG anti - tank rockets but remained in action . The journal concludes that with regular equipment T - 90A seems to be the best protected Russian tank , especially if the Shtora and Arena defensive protection systems are integrated in it . In 2007 , there were about 334 T - 90 tanks serving in the Russian Ground Forces ' 5th Guards Tank Division , stationed in the Siberian Military District , and seven T - 90 tanks in the Navy . Some 31 new T - 90 tanks were expected to enter service in 2007 , and 60 in 2008 . The Russian Federal Service for Defense Contracts ( Rosoboronzakaz ) announced in July 2008 that a new tank ( which rumour has previously referred to as the T - 95 ) was due to be introduced in 2009 , but development was cancelled in May 2010 . Russia is developing a new Universal Combat Platform T - 99 ( also known as Armata ) to be ready for use by 2015 . It is expected to have a more powerful engine , improved armor , main gun and autoloader , with ammunition storage separated from the crew . Export . India . In 2001 , India bought 310 T - 90S tanks from Russia , of which 120 were delivered complete , 90 in semi - knocked down kits , and 100 in completely knocked down kits . The T - 90 was selected because it is a direct development of the T - 72 that India already employs with 60 % logistics commonality with T - 90 simplifying training and maintenance . India bought the T - 90 after the delay in production of the domestically developed Arjun main battle tank , and to counter Pakistani deployment of the Ukrainian T - 80 UD in 1995 – 97 . These tanks were made by Uralvagonzavod and the updated engines were delivered by Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant . These tanks however did not feature the Shtora - 1 passive / active protection system though there are reports that a separate contract for shipment of a modernized version of this suite is being discussed . A follow - on contract , worth $ 800 million , was signed on October 26 , 2006 , for another 330 T - 90M " Bhishma " MBTs that were to be manufactured in India by Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi , Tamil Nadu . The T - 90M Bhishma is a customised , improved version of the T - 90S , which India developed with assistance from Russia and France , with both of whom India has very close ties . ( Bhishma was a near invincible warrior in the ancient Hindu epic , the " Mahabharata " ) . The tanks are equipped with the French Thales built Catherine - FC thermal sights and utilizes Russian Kontakt - 5 K - 5 explosive reactive armored plates . Kontakt - 5 ( K - 5 ) ERA in its export variant provides a protection level of 1 , 2 [ 20 % ] against Kinetic Energy ( APFSDS ) rounds and 1 , 7 – 1 , 8 [ 70 % ] against Chemical Energy rounds ( Tandem HEAT ) . Semi - active baffle plates and ceramic layers with high tensile proprieties are employed in T - 90 base armour . Even more advanced armour composition was implemented in the welded turrets of domestic T - 90s and on export T - 90 Bhishma tanks for India . In several tests conducted in front of an Indian delegation the latest foreign M829A2 / KEW - A2 APFSDS ammunitions were fired from 250 meters against a T - 90S lacking the normal built - in explosive reactive armor ( ERA ) Kontakt - 5 ( K - 5 ) The turret proved completely impenetrable , which proved to be crucial in selling the T - 90 Bhishma MBT to India . In April 2008 , the Indian Army sent a request for proposal to Rafael , BAE Systems , Raytheon , Rosoboronexport , Saab , and IBD Deisenroth Engineering for an active protection system for the T - 90S " Bhishma " . The contract is expected to be worth US $ 270 million . Saab ' s LEDS - 150 won the contract in January 2009 . A third contract , worth $ 1 . 23 billion , was signed in December 2007 for 347 upgraded T - 90Ms , the bulk of which will be license - assembled by HVF . The Army hopes to field a force of over 21 regiments of T - 90 tanks and 40 regiments of modified T - 72s . The Indian Army would begin receiving its first T - 90M main battle tank in completely knocked - down condition from Russia ’ s Nizhny Tagil - based Uralvagonzavod JSC by the end of 2009 . The T - 90M features the ‘ Kaktus K - 6 ’ bolted explosive reactive armour ( ERA ) package on its frontal hull and turret - top ( the T - 90S has ‘ Kontakt - 5 ’ ERA ) , is fitted with an enhanced environmental control system supplied by Israel ’ s Kinetics Ltd for providing cooled air to the fighting compartment , has additional internal volume for housing the cryogenic cooling systems for new - generation thermal imager s like the THALES - built Catherine - FC thermal imager ( operating in the 8 – 12 micrometre bandwidth ) . In all , India plans to have 1 , 640 T - 90 tanks in service by 2018 – 2020 . The first batch of 10 license built T - 90M " Bhishma " was inducted into the Indian army on August 24 , 2009 . These vehicles were built at the Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi , Tamil Nadu . A Rs . 10 , 000 - crore purchase of 354 new T - 90MS tanks for six tank regiments for the China border has been approved which would take the total number of T - 90 tanks in the Indian Army ' s inventory to 2011 and with a total of nearly 4500 tanks ( T - 90 and variants , T - 72 and Arjun MBT ) in active service , the world ' s third largest operator of tanks . India plans to have 21 tank regiments of T - 90s by 2020 , with 45 combat tanks and 17 training and replacement tanks per regiment , for 62 total each . On 17 September 2013 , India ’ s Defense Ministry approved the production of 235 T - 90 tanks under Russian license for $ 1 billion . Other . The Cyprus House Defense Committee approved funds in January 2009 for the purchase of 41 Russian - built T - 90 tanks . The money is included as part of the 2009 defense budget . Cyprus already operates the Russian - made T - 80 tank . In March 2010 it was reported that Cyprus had opted for 41 additional T - 80s instead of purchasing T - 90s . Anonymous Venezuelan defense sources said that president Hugo Chavez “ wants to replace his army ' s obsolete AMX - 30 main battle tanks with between 50 and 100 Russian - built T - 90 main battle tanks , ” according to an October 2008 article by analyst Jack Sweeney . In September , 2009 a deal was announced for 92 T - 72s only . Saudi Arabia was reported , in July 2008 , by Russian daily " Kommersant " to be in negotiations to buy 150 T - 90 tanks . Lebanese Defence Minister Elias El Murr met with Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in December 2008 , when they discussed the possibility of a transfer of military equipment including T - 90 tanks . In February 2010 , an arms deal was signed between Libya and Russia . Details of the sale were not immediately released , but a Russian diplomat stated that Libya had wanted 20 fighter planes , air defense systems , and may also be interested in purchasing " several dozen " T - 90s , and modernizing a further 140 T - 72s . However after Libya ' s crackdown on anti - government protesters in early 2011 , the United Nations enacted an international arms embargo on Libya resulting in the cancellation of Russian arms deals . In April 2013 , Rosoboronexport requested for the entry of the T - 90S in an upcoming tender by the Peruvian Army for main battle tanks . Peru is seeking to acquire between 120 and 170 tanks to replace its aging T - 55 tanks . The T - 90 was tested against the M1A1 Abrams from the United States , the Leopard 2 A4 offered from the Spanish Army , Leopard 2 A6s formerly operated by the Dutch Army , and T - 64 s and T - 84 s offered by Ukraine . By September 2013 , only the T - 90S , the Russian T - 80 , the Ukrainian T - 84 , and American M1A1 were still competing . On 19 September 2013 , a T - 90S was demonstrated to the Commander - in - Chief of the Peruvian Land Forces and 300 officers . During the day , the tank ' s combat and running capabilities were shown . At night , the accuracy of all weapons at different ranges while stationary and on the move were shown under limited visibility and mountainous terrain conditions . A Peruvian T - 55 driver was briefed for 5 minutes about the controls , then was able to move and operate the T - 90S , demonstrating the commonality of the two vehicles . In late September 2013 , the South Korean K2 Black Panther was entered in the competition . Russia is pushing for the sale of 110 T - 90S tanks . The People ' s Army of Vietnam is reportedly interested in buying the T - 90 to keep its military capability in step with its neighbors . Design . Armament . The T - 90 ' s main armament is the 2A46 M 125 mm smoothbore tank gun . This is a highly modified version of the Sprut anti - tank gun , and is the same gun used as the main armament on the T - 80 - series tanks . It can be replaced without dismantling the inner turret and is capable of firing armour - piercing fin - stabilized discarding sabot ( APFSDS ) , high - explosive anti - tank ( HEAT - FS ) , and high explosive fragmentation ( HE - FRAG ) ammunition , as well as 9M119M Refleks anti - tank guided missiles . The Refleks missile has semi - automatic laser beam - riding guidance and a tandem hollow - charge HEAT warhead . It has an effective range of 100 m to 6 km , and takes 17 . 5 seconds to reach maximum range . Refleks can penetrate about of steel armour and can also engage low - flying air targets such as helicopter s . The NSV 12 . 7mm ( 12 . 7x108 ) remotely controlled anti - aircraft Heavy machine gun can be operated from within the tank by the commander and has a range of 2 km and a cyclic rate of fire of 700 – 800 rounds per minute with 300 rounds available ( the NSV was replaced by the Kord heavy machine gun in the late 1990s ) . The PKMT 7 . 62mm ( 7 . 62x54mm R ) coaxial machine gun weighs about 10 . 5 kg while the ammunition box carries 250 rounds ( 7000 rounds carried ) and weighs an additional 9 . 5 kg . Like other modern Russian tanks the 2A46M in the T - 90 is fed by an automatic loader which removes the need for a manual loader in the tank and reduces the crew to 3 ( commander , gunner , and driver ) . The autoloader can carry 22 ready - to - fire rounds in its carousel and can load a round in 5 – 8 seconds . It has been suggested that the automatic loaders on modern T - 90 tanks have been modified to take advantage of newer ammunition such as the 3BM - 44M APFSDS , which like the US M829A3 penetrates armour better than the previous shorter rounds . HEAT rounds that can be fired from the 2A46M includes the 3BK21B ( with a Depleted uranium liner ) , 3BK29 ( with a credited penetration of 800 mm RHA equivalency ) , and the 3BK29M ( with a Triple - tandem charge warhead ) . Additionally the T - 90 features the Ainet fuse setting system which allows the tank to detonate 3OF26 HE - FRAG rounds at a specific distance from the tank as determined by the gunners laser rangefinder , improving its performance against helicopters and infantry . Fire - control system T - 90 showed the following features " combat " shooting during state testing . Heavily armored targets at ranges of up to 5 km tank T - 90 strikes on the move ( up to 30 km / h ) with a high probability hit the first shot . During state testing was made 24 launch missiles at ranges of 4 – 5 km and they all hit the target ( all missile launches were made by inexperienced professionals ) , an experienced gunner for 54 traffic at speeds of 25 km / h 7 real shells hit armored targets located at ranges of 1500 - 2500 . Fire - control system on the T - 90 includes the PNK - 4S / SR AGAT day and night sighting system mounted at the commanders station which allows for night time detection of a tank sized target at ranges between 700 and 1100 meters depending on the version of the sight . Early models of the T - 90 were equipped with the TO1 - KO1 BURAN sight but later models ( T - 90S ) were upgraded to use the ESSA thermal imaging sight , which allows for accurate firing to a range of 5000 – 8000 m using the CATHERINE - FC thermal camera produced by Thales Optronique . The gunner is also provided with the 1G46 day sighting system which includes a laser range finder , missile guidance channel and allows tank - sized targets to be detected and engaged at . The driver users a TVN - 5 day and night sight . In 2010 , Russia started licensed production of Thales - developed Catherine FC thermal imaging cameras for T - 90M tanks , a Russian daily said . These thermal imagers are also present on T - 90M " Bhishma " built in India under license . Mobility . Different models of the T - 90 tank are powered by the V - 84MS 618 kW ( 840 hp ) four - stroke V - 12 piston engine , uprated engines and engines made by Uralvagonzavod and are delivered by Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant . The Т - 90S with engine can attain a top speed of 60 km / h on the road and up to 45 km / h on rough terrain . T - 90 tank has classic arrangement of transmission , with rear placed engine and transmission . The engines are V - 92 four stroke , 12 cylinder , multi - fuel diesel while engine is V - 96 . The T - 90 export version i . e . modified T - 90S is fitted with increased power multi - fuel 1 , 000 - h . p . diesel engine with turbochargers . The tank is also fitted with an air conditioning system for work in high temperature zones . Protection . The T - 90 is fitted with a " three - tiered " protection system . The first tier is the composite armour in the turret , consisting of basic armour shell with an insert of alternating layers of aluminum and plastics and a controlled deformation section . The second tier is third generation Kontakt - 5 ERA ( explosive reactive armor ) which significantly degrades the penetrating power of kinetic - energy APFSDS ammunition and also these ERA blocks give the turret its distinctive angled " clam shell " appearance . ERA bricks are also located on the turret roof and provide protection from top - attack weapons . The turret ' s forward armour package , in addition to the ERA and steel plating , contains a composite filler of Russian composite armour sandwiched between upper and lower steel plates . The composite armour results in a lower weight and improved protection when compared with steel - only armour . The third tier is a Shtora - 1 ( Russian : Штора - 1 or " curtain " in English ) countermeasures suite , produced by Elektromashina of Russia . This system includes two electro - optical / IR " dazzlers " on the front of the turret ( which gives the distinct Red Eyes ) , four Laser warning receiver s , two 3D6 aerosol grenade discharging systems and a computerized control system . The Shtora - 1 warns the tank ' s crew when the tank has been ' painted ' by a weapon - guidance laser and allows the crew to slew the turret to face the threat . The infrared jammer , the TShU1 - 7 EOCMDAS , jams the semiautomatic command to line of sight ( SACLOS ) guidance system of some anti - tank guided missile s . The aerosol grenades are automatically launched after Shtora detects that it has been painted . The aerosol grenades are used to mask the tank from laser rangefinders and designators as well as the optics of other weapons systems . Indian T - 90S tanks are not equipped with the Shtora - 1 countermeasures suite . They will be equipped with the LEDS - 150 Land Electronic Defence System . In addition to the passive and active protection systems the T - 90 is also fitted with nuclear , biological and chemical ( NBC ) protection equipment , KMT mine sweeps and an automatic fire fighting system . The EMT - 7 electromagnetic - counter mine system can also be installed on the T - 90 . EMT - 7 emits an electromagnetic pulse to disable magnetic mines and disrupt electronics before the tank reaches them . The Nakidka signature reduction suite is also available for the T - 90 . Nakidka is designed to reduce the probabilities of an object to be detected by Infrared , Thermal , Radar - Thermal , and Radar bands . During a reported test conducted by the Russian military in 1999 the T - 90 was exposed to a variety of RPG , ATGM and APFSDS munitions . When equipped with Kontakt - 5 ERA the T - 90 could not be penetrated by any of the APFSDS or ATGM used during the trial and outperformed a T - 80U which also took part . During combat operations in Dagestan , there were witness accounts of one T - 90 sustaining seven hits from RPGs , and remaining in action . Can be used " Relikt " . Enough to replace the Kontakt - 5 on Relikt . This is much improved security ( + 20 % ) .