The Russian army has begun to receive modernised T-90M tanks, Oleg Salyukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces, said in an interview with Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. The state contract for the overhaul and modernisation of the T-90A tank, which yielded the T-90M, was concluded between the Defence Ministry and Uralvagonzavod at the Army 2019 forum in June. The first contract was signed in 2017 and serial production started in 2018. The T-90M, a modification of the T-90A, was created in the framework of “Breakthrough-3” (Proryv-3).
The key difference between the tank and previous models is the newly-designed turret module, which features multi-layer armour, Afghanit APS, Relikt ERA. and with the 125A 2A82-1M cannon, which is also used by the Armata tank. The T-90M is equipped with a highly-automated Kalina fire control system, as well as a remotely controlled anti-aircraft machine gun with a 12.7-mm Kord MT machine gun. To protect against enemy fire, the tank features anti-cumulative trellised screens and a Relict dynamic defence system. Crew comfort has been improved with air conditioning.
