T-90 Main Battle Tank

The T-90 main battle tank is a Russian third-generation main battle tank that is a modernisation of the T-72 (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. It is a direct descendant of the T-72 MBT (in fact, a renaming of T-72BU) although every single system including the main gun has received a major upgrade. 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 sights. Standard protective measures include a blend of regular steel and Kontakt-5 explosive-reactive armor, laser warning receivers, Nakidka camouflage and the Shtora infrared ATGM jamming system. The EMT-7 electromagnetic pulse (EMP) creator is used in testing but not fitted to T-90s in active service. It is designed and built by Uralvagonzavod, in Nizhny Tagil, Russia.

The T-90's main armament is the 2A46M 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 950 millimetres (37 in) of steel armour and can also engage low-flying air targets such as helicopters.

The T-90 is also equiped with the TShU-1-7 Shtora-1 optronic counter measures system which is designed to disrupt the laser target designation and rangefinders of incoming ATGM. The T-90 is also equipped with a laser warning package that warns the tank crew when it is being lased. Shtora-1 is an electro-optical jammer that jams the enemy�s semiautomatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) antitank guided missiles, laser rangefinders and target designators. Shtora-1 is actually a soft kill, or countermeasures system. It is most effective when used in tandem with a hard kill system such as the Arena. During the International Defense Exposition (IDEX) held in Abu Dhabi in 1995, the system was shown fitted to a Russian MBT. The first known application of the system is the Russian T-90 MBT that entered service in the Russian Army in 1993. Shtora-1 is currently installed on the T-80UK, T-80U, T-84 and T-90 MBTs.

Specifications:
Dimensions (mm) : L9,530/6,860 x W3,780 x H2,226 x 492 clearance
Weight : 46.5+5% metric tons
Armored volume : 11.04 cub.m
of which, turret : 1.85 cub.m
Crew : 3
Engine : 840 hp V-84MS diesel or 1,000 hp V-92S2 diesel, 1 kW AB-1-P28 auxiliary power unit
Max Road Speed : 65 km/h
Max X-country Speed : 45 km/h
Power/Weight : 18 .. 20.0 hp/tn
Ground Pressure : 0.91 kg/sq.cm
Range : 550 .. 650 km
Fording depth : 1.2 m on the move/5 m with OPVT (snorkel)
Trench width : 2.8 m
Vertical obstacle : 0.85 m
Maximum gradient : 30°
Maximum tilt : 30°
Armanent:
Main Weapon : 125mm 2A46M-2 or 2A46M-5 smoothbore
Stabilization : 2E42-4 Zhasmin two-plane electro-mechanical
Rate of fire : 6-8 rounds/min
Ammunition : 43 rounds (22 in carousel)
Ammunition types : APFSDS, HEAT, HEF
ATGM through 125mm : 9M119M Refleks-M (AT-11 Sniper-B)
Machine Guns : Coaxial PKT 7.62mm (2000 rounds), Remotely-controlled AAMG mount Utjos NSVT 12.7mm (300 rounds)
Smoke Screens : SPZ with 12 82mm mortars using 3D17 smoke grenades, engine smoke generator
Equipment:
Fire Control : 1A45T Irtysh computerized system
Night Vision : TO1-KO1 Buran-PA with TPN-4-49-23 passive/active II (target id range 1.2/1.5 km), ESSA (Thales Optronique Catherine-FC TI)
Gunner : 1A43 rangefinder/sight with 1G46 day sight, 9S517 missile guidance, DVE-BS wind gauge, 1V528-1 ballistic computer
Commander : PNK-4S complex, includes TKN-4S Agat-S day/night sight (target id range 800 m (day)/700 (night))
Driver : TVN-5 IR night viewer
Radio : R-163-50U, R-163-50U + R-163-50K (T-90K)
Navigation : TNA-4-3 (T-90K) inertial, latest batches TNA "Gamma" GPS/GLONASS
Other : NBC overpressure system, GO-27 NBC recon system, 3ETs13 Inej fire-fighting equipment, self-dig-in blade, OPVT deep fording equipment, optional KMT-7 or KMT-8 mine sweeps, optional air conditioner.