The T-90AM "Proryv" tank and its export version T-90SM is the latest modification of the T-90A combat vehicle. Work on its improvement started in 2004. For the first time, a prototype of the T-90AM tank was presented at the beginning of September 2011 in Nizhny Tagil at the Staratel military training ground. The demonstration of new military equipment was held as part of the XIII international exhibition REA-2011.
Improvement Details
T-90AM, whose characteristics are now available only in general terms, was created on the basis of the T-90 tank. The developer of the novelty was Uralvagonzavod. The main object of modernization of the machine was the old tower, which was replaced with the latest combat module with an improved Kalina control system, which has a combat integrated information and control system of the tactical level. In addition, the T-90AM (photos are presented in the article) is equipped with a modernized 2A46M-5 cannon, a new automatic loader and a UDP T05BV-1 anti-aircraft gun with remote control. Also replaced "Contact-V" with DZ "Relic".
The developers paid special attention to improving the commander's ability to control fire and search for targets equally effectively regardless of the time of day. For the first time Russianthe T-90AM tank was equipped with steering wheel-based control and an automatic gearshift system. It allows you to switch to manual mode as soon as the need arises.
The T-90AM has an ammunition load with two stacking groups - one outside and the other inside. At the same time, 22 shots are located in the lower part of the hull, in the AZ, and the rest, like the charges for them, are in a special armored box, which is located at the stern of the tower. Specialists took care of improving the maneuverability and mobility of the T-90AM (SM) tank. For this, the latest combined night vision devices were installed, as well as a TV camera for rear view of the area.
The new T-90AM "Proryv" tank weighs 48 tons, which is one and a half tons more than the base model, but at the same time significantly less than its German or American counterparts. This machine is equipped with a B-93 monoblock power plant with a capacity of 1130 hp. pp., developed on the basis of V-92S2F2. It was also decided to replace the anti-neutron knockout with a more reliable anti-fragmentation fire-resistant material like kivlar and improve the fire extinguishing system.
Summing up the results of modernization, we can say that the mobility and security of the T-90AM tank have improved markedly, and the dimensions have remained virtually unchanged, so it still remains in the class of combat vehicles up to 50 tons.
Comparison of military equipment
It's no secret that many are concerned about the effectiveness of the newest Russian tanks compared to foreign counterparts. For example, take the American M1 Abrams. But toto compare two combat vehicles, you should know that situations when they converge one on one on the battlefield practically do not exist in our time.
In modern conditions of warfare, in order to survive, the crew of the tank will have to fight with a variety of opponents, ranging from infantry equipped with anti-tank missiles, and ending with aircraft and helicopters. But, despite this, experts are constantly trying to compare military vehicles of the same class with each other. At the same time, some of them believe that a theoretical comparison of tanks is impossible in principle, since even real military operations will not give a final answer to the question of who is better. Here it will be necessary to take into account a lot of other criteria, such as tactics of use, maintenance of the vehicle, the level of crew training, the interaction of various military units, etc. All this can be much more important than the technical characteristics of the tanks themselves.
Comparison of T-90 and Abrams
Before you start comparing the technical characteristics of these combat vehicles, it must be taken into account that the T-90 tank was developed 20 years ago, and since then it has been modernized several times. Naturally, each new model was significantly different from the previous one, both structurally and in terms of combat effectiveness. The same thing happened with the Abrams tank, which entered service with the American army in 1980. Therefore, it makes sense to compare all their parameters too meticulously only for specific modifications that were released in one andthe same period of time.
The technical characteristics and other parameters of the Russian T-90AM tank against the M1A2 Abrams are almost impossible to compare due to the highest level of secrecy around this military equipment. It is only known that the reservation of the towers in their front part is made in a similar way - in the pockets on the frontal armor, packages of so-called reflective sheets are installed.
Use of equipment in combat conditions
The American tank "Abrams" has already been used in the Iraqi military operation "Desert Storm". As for the Russian vehicle, its participation in hostilities has not yet been documented. Although some experts suggest that the T-90 tank has already been tested during the First and Second Chechen campaigns both in Chechnya and in Dagestan. Others claim that these cars were lit up in August 2008 on the territory of South Ossetia during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.
For example, some media then reported that the T-90 was seen during the withdrawal of Russian troops from Gori (Georgia). But so far there is no direct evidence of this fact. In addition, the T-90 tank, the characteristics of which will be compared with the American "Abrams" below, looks similar to the T-72B, which has dynamic protection "Contact", which could cause an error in its identification.
While it is impossible to determine exactly how the T-90AM tank will prove itself in a real battle, since it has not been used anywhere yet.
Design comparison
It should be noted that the United States and the Soviet Union, and subsequently Russia, have always had a completely different approach to the design of military equipment. It is clearly seen that the American M1 tank is much larger than the T-90. It was possible to achieve a reduction in the dimensions of the vehicle due to the rejection of the loader, who needs approximately 1.7 m from the height of the fighting compartment to perform his duties. The result of this was the removal of the restriction on lowering the level of the tank. In addition, a denser layout made it possible to make a reliably protected machine with a relatively low weight and low silhouette, as well as with a small cross-sectional and longitudinal section.
The result of these transformations is the fact that the booked volume of "Abrams" is 19, and T-90 - 11 cubic meters. But a denser layout has its downsides. They are some tightness of the tank crew and the difficulty of interchangeability with each other if necessary.
Defense Comparison
Many people might think that if the Abrams is much heavier, then the armor on it is thicker, and therefore more reliable. This is not entirely true. Reducing the weight of the armor on the T-90 tank helped reduce the reserved internal volume, which provided the desired level of external protection. Due to the fact that the dimensions of the frontal projection of the Russian vehicle are only 5 m², while that of the Abrams is 6, it becomes less vulnerable, since the probability of such a hit in this particular part of the vehicle is very high.
Russian tank equipped with "reflective sheets",made of steel, and "Abrams", starting with a certain modification, - from depleted uranium. This material has a high density (19.03 g / cm³), therefore, with a relatively small plate thickness, it provided a literally explosive nature of the destruction of the cumulative jet.
The T-90 tank, in addition to the traditional one, also has a dynamic protection complex. This is not the case on most Abrams modifications. "Kontakt-5" is the dynamic protection of Russian tanks, which works both against armor-piercing sub-caliber charges and cumulative weapons. This complex delivers the strongest lateral impulse, which allows you to destroy or at least destabilize the BPS core before the impact on the main armor begins.
According to Russian manufacturers, the frontal armor of the T-90A tank easily withstands the hit of the most commonly used BOPS in the West. For this, a special experimental demonstration was carried out. The T-90 tank, the characteristics of which were tested back in 1995 at the Kubinka training ground, was fired upon by another vehicle. 6 Russian HEAT shells were fired at it from a distance of about 200 m. As a result of the shelling, it turned out that the frontal armor successfully passed the tests, and the tank was able to independently reach the observation deck.
In turn, US officials said that the frontal armor of their M1A1 also successfully withstood the shelling that the Iraqi military fired at them from T-72 tanks. True, these were obsolete BOPS, decommissioned in the early 70s. last century.
Comparison of weapons and ammunition
As you know, the main armament of this military equipment is a cannon. The Russian vehicle has a 125 mm 2A46M/2A46M5 smoothbore tank gun. The Abrams is armed with the standard NATO 120mm M256 cannon. As you can see, there is some difference in caliber, but despite this, both guns have similar characteristics. However, it should be noted that the effectiveness of tank fire directly depends on the ammunition used.
The Russian T-90 tank, Proryv, can probably also fire using four types of ammunition: high-explosive fragmentation, armor-piercing sub-caliber, cumulative shells and guided missiles. "Abrams" has a standard kit, consisting of only two types of ammunition: cumulative and armor-piercing sub-caliber.
To fight enemy equipment, mainly somewhat outdated BOPS ZBM-44 and ZBM-32 are used, having cores made of tungsten and uranium alloys. More recently, more advanced shells have been developed that can withstand the frontal armor of the best Western tanks. Among them - and ZBM-48 "Lead".
The main ammunition of "Abrams" is the M829A3 shot with an armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile, which was put into service in 2003
Comparison of power plants
It must be said right away that they are fundamentally different for both machines. The T-90A and T-90CA tanks have a 1000-horsepower diesel engine, and the Abrams has a 1500-horsepower gas turbine, made in one block withhydromechanical automatic transmission. The specific engine power of the T-90 and Abrams is 21 and 24 hp, respectively. s./t. The Russian car has a significantly longer range (550 km) than the American one (350 km). This is due to the increased efficiency of a diesel compared to a more voracious gas turbine.
The T-90 power plant has another very important advantage - it is high reliability and unpretentiousness. Take, for example, the testing of cars in the conditions of the Indian Thar Desert, where not a single engine failure was recorded. As for the American M1A1 tanks that participated in Operation Desert Storm, in the three days that they moved across the sands, out of 58 units, 16 failed. And all this happened due to engine damage. If we compare the labor intensity of maintenance of the engines of these machines, then to replace it, teams of qualified technicians will need: Russian - 6, and American - only 2 hours.
The disadvantage of the transmission of Russian cars is a rather low reverse speed - only 4.8 km/h, while for American vehicles it reaches 30 km/h due to the installation of a hydrostatic transmission on them. The fact is that the mass-produced T-90 tanks are equipped with a mechanical transmission based on the already outdated scheme of the turning mechanism, where its duties are assigned to the stepped onboard gearboxes. The Abrams is equipped with a hydrostatic transmission, as well as turning mechanisms with a digital automatic control system.
Overall score
Based on the available data on the technical and other characteristics of the T-90 and Abrams tanks, we can conclude that the main advantages of the Russian vehicle compared to the American are:
- good protection, including the dynamic system "Contact", as well as KOEP "Shtora-1";
- availability of target shooting with guided missiles at a distance of up to 5,000 m;
- more types of ammunition, which include HE shells (including those with ready-made submunitions and remote detonation);
- excellent rate of fire, which is maintained throughout the battle, provided by the use of A3;
- decent water depth, good range and excellent mobility;
- unpretentiousness and high reliability during operation.
"Abrams" also has its merits. This is:
- strong protection;
- automation of combat controls, which provides an influx of various data in real time;
- reliable isolation of the crew from the location of the ammunition;
- good maneuverability;
- high power density.
Expert Opinion
In 2012, the press published an article by V. Stepanov, who is a doctor of technical sciences and the general director of JSC VNIItransmash. It spoke about the analysis of methods for the comparative evaluation of the technical characteristics of tanks. And, first of all, here were given estimates of the military-technical level indicator (VTU) of the bestmilitary vehicles, including Russian T-90A and T-90MS, as well as M1A2 and M1A2 SEP.
VTU was calculated according to several indicators: security, operational capability, firepower and mobility. Then the performance indicators of all the above machines with a certain reference tank. They chose the T-90A, which means that its WTU=1.0. The data of the American M1A2 and M1A2 SEP vehicles were rated at 1.0 and 1.32, respectively. The WTU of the new T-90MS Tagil tank was determined as 1, 42. The calculations carried out may have an insignificant error of no more than 10%. From this we can conclude that there is a real proximity between the levels of the best foreign analogues with the Russian T-90A and its modernized model - the T-90AM tank.
