Key Points and Summary: The Russian T-90M tank, despite improvements over older Soviet-era models, remains vulnerable due to inherent design flaws, including an outdated autoloader system prone to catastrophic ammo detonations.
-Ukrainian drones have also proven highly effective in targeting the T-90M’s weak points.
T-90M. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Poor Russian tactics, such as deploying tanks without infantry support, have further worsened casualties.
-While the T-90M is cheaper to produce than Western tanks, its battlefield performance raises questions about its long-term viability in high-intensity warfare against modern threats.
In July of 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin was reported saying that the T-90M main battle tank (MBT) was “the world’s best tank.” Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev also remarked that the T-90M was superior to the M1 Abrams and the German Leopard 2.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. As of writing this, the war between Russia and Ukraine is nearing its third year. According to some estimates, Russian tank losses have reportedly reached over 3,000, with T-90M losses reaching over 175.
While I take any casualty estimate with a grain of salt, videos posted by Ukrainian fighters indicate that Russia has lost a significant number of T-90Ms.
This begs the following questions: why is Russia losing so many T-90Ms, and why is this considered Russia’s best tank?
Design Flaws on T-90M
While the tank is an objectively superior tank compared to older Soviet models like the T-72, T-80, and T-90A, the T-90M also inherits many of its flaws from its predecessors.
The carousel autoloader is one such flaw. Since the T-64, Soviet/Russian tanks have been built with an autoloader system that stores all the ammunition below where the commander and the gunner sit.
Russian main battle tank T-90M Proryv destroyed by Ukrainian Armed Forces is seen near the village of Staryi Saltiv, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine May 9, 2022. Picture taken May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi.
The downside of this system is that a hit on either side of the tank (or in the case of Javelin/NLAW anti-tank missiles, above the tank) has a high chance of setting off all the ammunition, thereby instantly killing the entire crew.
This tank, like its Soviet predecessors, is just as prone to devastating ammo cookoffs.
Another flaw with the T-90M is that the tank is highly vulnerable to kamikaze drone attacks. To be fair, this can be said about every tank currently in use in Ukraine, even Western MBTs. Currently, the T-90M has no means to detect or defend itself against slow-flying FPV drones, thus making it easy pickings for Ukraine despite its explosive reactive armor. Drones have proven to be a larger threat to tanks in Ukraine than ATGMs. Experienced drone pilots can easily attack the tank’s weak points and disable it completely.
Tactical Blunders
Russian tactics are also a key reason why the T-90M’s casualties are so high. Combined arms doctrine dictates that tanks are to be used in tandem with infantry and air power. There are many documented cases in which lone T-90Ms are sent to the battlefield without any support from infantry or other armored vehicles.
Even if the T-90M was the best tank in the world, a lone tank is a dead tank. While such mistakes have been committed by Russia and Ukraine, such mistakes prove costly if committed repeatedly.
Is the T-90M a Failure?
Despite its flaws and high casualties, Russia continues to produce and field T-90Ms. Why? Performance in Ukraine aside, this tank does possess a number of strengths compared to the older Soviet models. It features modern fire control systems which help it to fire more accurately even at distances of over 5 kilometers.
The tank also possesses modern thermal and night vision sights, the lack of which proved fatal for the T-72 during the Gulf War. One of the biggest advantages the T-90M possesses over its Western counterparts is its cost.
T-90M. Image Credit: Vitaly M. Kuzmin.
A single tank costs around $4.5 million (according to Russian sources); for comparison, the M1A2 SEP V3 costs over $10 million per unit. While the M1A2 is undoubtedly a higher quality tank, in a war of attrition, the side that can field the most tanks has an advantage.
T-90M: Quantity vs Quality
The tank has its pros and its cons; however, it is far from the game-changing war machine that Russia claims it to be.
This tank currently sits in an awkward middle ground. It is neither the best MBT in the world as Putin says it is, nor is it the failure that many Western analysts claim. While it possesses many flaws, the tank is still a battlefield threat.
Even more worryingly, despite high losses, Russian tank factories (which are still working at peacetime capacity) continue to churn out more tanks.
At the same time, Western countries struggle to meet Ukraine’s supply needs.
T-90M Tank from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
About the Author: Isaac Seitz
Isaac Seitz, a new 19FortyFive Contributing Editor, graduated from Patrick Henry College’s Strategic Intelligence and National Security program. He has also studied Russian at Middlebury Language Schools and has worked as an intelligence Analyst in the private sector.
