Russia’s latest class of main battle tank, the T-90M ‘Breakthrough Three,’ reportedly completed testing successfully in the first week of February. This followed the signing of a contract for the supply of an experimental batch to the Russian Army in 2019. Not to be confused with the T-90MS, an older design intended for export, the T-90M is second only to the T-14 in its capabilities and is a full generation ahead of the original T-90.
The platform’s most conspicuous improvement is the integration of the T-14’s 2A82-1M main gun and Kalina fire control system, allowing it to deploy the wide range specialised munitions developed for the T-14 and providing significantly more firepower than older tanks.
Other notable improvements to the original T-90 design include integration of the Afghanit active protection system and Relikt explosive reactive armour, and of similar communication and command suite and digital communications systems to the T-14 which improve situational awareness and network-centric warfare capabilities.
It remains uncertain whether similarly capable T-90 tanks will be offered for export, but given that the T-14 itself is being marketed abroad it remains highly likely that its new lighter counterpart will also see some sales overseas. As the T-90 is already currently widely deployed by Russian defence clients, sales of an upgrade package including the new main gun and other T-14 technologies could prove highly popular.
Source - Military Watch
