(Washington, D.C.) As a platform reportedly capable of manned-unmanned teaming, a new generation of long-range sensing, advanced computing and an entirely new turret, just how threatening is Russia’s now arriving “breakthrough” T-90M main battle tank?
It does not seem very clear, certainly when looked at with any understanding of the anticipated arrival of a “v4” variant of the U.S. Army’s M1 Abrams.
T-90M Modernization
Russian news reports from TASS, which said earlier this year that upgraded T-90M “Proryv” (Breakthrough) tanks had arrived with the Russian Army, claim the new variant introduces a host of unprecedented advantages. These include a 125m cannon that allows new high-powered munitions and missiles able to hit enemy tanks at distances up to 5km, TASS reports.
The T-90 is also reported by TASS to incorporate a new turret and “anti-slip” armor features similar to what’s used on the T-14 Armata tank. The tank also reportedly incorporates a new, more powerful engine and is outfitted with a new multi-channel sighting system enabling day and nighttime attack options.
While these reported attributes of the T-90 are certainly likely to command attention at the Pentagon, the existence of a new “sighting system” might generate the largest amount of concern.
T-90M Sighting System & Data Exchange
Certainly the range and accuracy with which targeting sensors can find and attack enemy targets, such as tanks, would bear prominently upon its prospects for combat success. Should one tank see another before it is itself detected, then combat capability differences are in many instances much less relevant as an attacker would not need to face enemy fire when attacking, if its sensors are outranged.
As part of this sensing equation, the TASS report’s claim that the new T-90 variant can “exchange data with other vehicles in real time,” is likely to be a source of great attention. “Networking” targeting data between nodes in combat across dispersed or otherwise disconnected areas of combat is certainly a capacity which, in an information warfare age, could massively enhance the lethality of the tank.
