How does t-90 compare to the newest generations of Tanks?
Model// ERA// vs APFSDS// vs HEAT
T-90A/T-90S// Kontakt-5// 800–830// 1150–1350
T-90AM/T-90MS// Relikt// 1100–1300// 1350+
V-84MS 12-cyl. diesel (T-90) 840 hp (618 kW) for V-84MS 12-cyl. diesel engine
18.2 hp/tonne (13.3 kW/tonne) (T-90)
V-92S2F (T-90MS) 1130 hp (831 kW) for V-92S2F (T-90AM&T-90MS)
T-90MS – New modernised (M) version of the export tank T-90S, with a
1130HP engine, a PNM Sosna-U gunner view, a 7.62mm turret UDP T05BV-1 RWS, GLONASS, inertial navigation systems, new
explosive reactive armour (ERA) and steering wheel. A new removable turret bustle is included, which provides storage for eight additional rounds.
Т-90M — Tanks will receive
2А82-1М gun (same as in T-14) and fire control system Kalina. It will be upgraded with
Afghanit APS and Malachit ERA. The upgrades are also aimed at improving network-centric warfare capabilites and coordination with Armata project vehicles.
What Azerbaijan has is T-90S:
T-90S – were updated with
1,000hp (750kW) engines. These tanks carry a leaner version of the
Shtora-1 passive/active protection system which lacks the infra-red dazzlers carried on the turret. These were initially supplied with
cast turrets of the early T-90, and when stocks were depleted, new, welded turrets were fabricated.
During combat operations in Dagestan, there were witness accounts of one
T-90 sustaining
seven hits from RPGs, and remaining in action.
T-90MS mounts the more advanced "Relikt" ERA. Relikt defends against
tandem warheads and reduces penetration of APFSDS rounds by
over 50 percent.
Note: Tandem-charge or
dual-charge weapon is an explosive device or projectile that has two or more stages of detonation. Examples of missiles that use tandem charges include the BGM-71 TOW, FGM-148 Javelin, Brimstone, the MBT LAW, the PG-7VR warhead for the RPG-7 rocket launcher and the PG-29V warhead for the more modern RPG-29 rocket launcher.
The T-90's main armament is the 2A46M 125mm smoothbore tank gun. The 2A46M gun 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.
The T-90A was deployed to Syria in 2015 to support the Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War. In early February 2016, Syrian Army forces began using T-90As in combat. In late February, a video was leaked on the internet which showed a T-90 survive
a direct frontal turret hit by a TOW-2A missile in Aleppo. The first alleged footage of the targeted tank showed only minor damage to Shtora-1 jammer optics and expended ERA as the result of TOW missile hit. In early May there was another TOW attack scoring a hit on a different vehicle operated by Syrian loyalist forces.
In January 2017 one T-90A was destroyed near Khanasir by two ISIS ATGM shots. Syrian military did not expect ATGMs in the area and
the Shtora system was switched off. The first shot hit the turret top and made the optics and machine gun inoperable. The second shot hit the side of the tank. The tank commander and gunner left the tank after it was hit, while the concussioned driver was evacuated later. The tank
burned for two hours before the fire reached the munitions.According to Global security, the engagement did show the T-90A superior in guided missile protection, compared to the M1 Abrams tank.
Lets compare it with Leopard 2
Estimated levels of protection for the Leopard 2 range from 590–690 mm RHAe on the turret, 600 mm RHAe on the glacis and lower front hull on the Leopard 2A4, to 920–940 mm RHAe on the turret, 620 mm RHAe on the glacis and lower front hull on the Leopard 2A6 against kinetic projectiles.
According to a description page hosted by the Federation of American Scientists, the armour of the Leopard 2A4 is believed to provide protection equivalent to
700 mm armour steel (RHA) against kinetic energy penetrators and
1000 mm RHA against shaped charge warheads.
For the L55 gun, a newer APFSDS-T round was introduced to take advantage of the longer barrel, the DM-53, which is said to be
able to penetrate 750 mm of RHAe armour at a range of 2,000 meters.
Power/weight 24.1 PS/t (17.7 kW/t)
Lets compare it to M1 ABRAMS
M1A1HA: Hull – 600 mm vs APFSDS, 700 mm vs HEAT,
Turret – 600 mm / 800 mm vs APFSDS, 1,300 mm vs HEAT
Power/weight From 26.9 hp/t (20.05 kW/t) to 23.8 hp/t (17.74 kW/t)
The protection of M1A2 SEP is a frontal turret armor estimate of 940–960 mm vs APFSDS and 1,320–1,620 vs HEAT, glacis estimate of 560–590 mm vs APFSDS and 510–1,050 vs HEAT, and lower front hull estimate of 580–650 mm vs APFSDS and 800–970 vs HEAT.
For M256 smoothbore gun, The M829A2 APFSDS round was developed specifically
to address the improved protection of a Russian T-72, T-80U or T-90 main battle tank equipped with Kontakt-5 Explosive Reactive Armor.
In mid-2014, Iraqi Army Abrams saw action when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant launched the June 2014 Northern Iraq offensive. During three months, about one-third of
the Iraqi Army's 140 Abrams had been damaged or destroyed by ISIL. By December 2014, the Iraqi Army only had about 40 operational Abrams left. That month, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of another 175 Abrams to Iraq.
In May 2008 it was reported that an American M1 tank had also been damaged by insurgent fire of
an RPG-29, which uses a tandem-charge high explosive anti-tank warhead to penetrate explosive reactive armor (ERA) as well as composite armor behind it, in Iraq. The U.S.
considered the RPG-29 threat to American armor high and refused to allow the newly formed Iraqi Army to buy it, fearing that it would fall into the insurgents' hands.
Conclusion of my analysis is like this:
Urban warfare
winner is T-90 and of it’s variants
Tank vs Tank engagement
winner isn’t T-90 and of it’s variants.
