Russia’s Groundbreaking New T-90M Tank to be Displayed at Army 2020 Forum - Reports

The Russian Army is planning to display its latest main battle tank, the T-90M, at the country's 2020 Army Form - an event at which much of the latest hardware for Russia's ground forces will be on show.  The CEO of the manufacturer UralVagonZavod, Alexander Potapov, stated regarding this possibility: "I think we will see them [T-90M] soon. This year, we have 75th anniversary of the Victory [Second World War], the 100th anniversary of tank building industry, and the Army forum.” Russia notably unveiled the T-14 Armata tank in 2015 on the 70th anniversary of its victory, and the T-90M is the most significant new class of battle tank to have been developed since. While the T-14 remains Russia’s only fourth generation battle tank, one of just three classes of its generation in service worldwide, the T-90M is lighter, much cheaper to operate, and integrates many of the same technologies. 

Among the next generation T-14 technologies integrated onto the T-90M include the Afghanit active protection system and Relikt explosive reactive armour, as well as a similar communication and command suite and digital communications systems to the Armata which improve situational awareness and network-centric warfare capabilities. The new 2A46M-5 gun and the T-14 tank’s Kalina fire control system have also been integrated onto the new tank allowing it to deploy a wide range specialised munitions and providing significantly more firepower than older T-90 variants. Lower manufacturing costs and much lower operational costs mean the T-90M can be fielded in much larger numbers - while several hundred existing T-90 tanks are reportedly set to be upgraded to the new standard. The program’s cost effectiveness is further increased by its minimal research and development costs - as it relies overwhelmingly on technologies already developed for the T-14 from its armour to its new types of munitions.