Russian Army 1st Guards Tank Army has taken delivery of the first of new T-90M “Proryv” main battle tanks. First deliveries of T-90M “Proryv” tanks started in April to the Kremlin’s elite Taman Division The tank will be deployed to five regions of Russia Western Military District. The Russian Defense Ministry and the company UralVagonZavod has signed a contract for the delivery of T-90M main battle tanks to the Russian army at the Army-2017 International Military-Technical Forum that was held near Moscow in August 2017. This tank was upgraded thanks to the combat experience of the Russian armed forces gained during the counter-terror operation Syria.
According to TASS, the T-90M ‘Proryv’ has received a principally new turret that differs from the serial-produced module and a more powerful engine. The armament of the T-90M Proryv consists of one 125 mm 2A46M-4 smoothbore gun able to fire standard ammunition but also anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) Refleks NATO Code AT-11 Sniper-B. The main 125 mm armament is stabilized and enables the T-90M to shoot on the move with a high probability of a first-round hit. The T-90M Model 2017 Proryv-3 is powered with a V-92S2 engine developing 1,000 hp coupled to a manual transmission with seven forward and one reverse gears. It can run at a maximum road speed of 60 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 550 km.
The T-90M’s armor features special anti-slip coating similar to that used on the latest T-14 Armata tank. The Proryv is also protected by a soft- and hard-kill active protection systems (APS), which seems similar to the Afganit system installed on the T-14 Armata. It is also equipped with a new multi-channel sighting system that allows employing weapons at any time of day or night and, as its major advantage, it can exchange data with other vehicles in real-time. TASS reported that T-90M’s and T-14 Armata’s will take part in a massive military parade in Moscow devoted to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.
The 1st Guards Tank Army is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces. The unit fought as part of the Red Army on the Eastern Front during World War II. The army was commanded throughout most of the war by Mikhail Katukov. It fought in the early defense during the Battle of Stalingrad, and Operation Uranus, also participated at the Battle of Kursk, Proskurov-Chernovtsy Operation, Lvov-Sandomierz Operation, Vistula-Oder Offensive and the Battle of Berlin. After the end of the Cold War and the resultant withdrawal of Soviet units in Germany, the army was relocated to Smolensk, disbanded in 1999. The 1st Guards Tank Army was reformed in 2014 as part of a Russian military expansion.
