T-90
The T-90 is a Russian main battle tank and is currently the most modern tank in service with the Russian Ground Forces, Naval Infantry and the Indian Army. It is designed and built by Uralvagonzavod, in Nizhny Tagil, Russia.
Development
If the T-90 looks similar to the T-80, that is because it isn't. For years the Russian government had, in a rare display of considering the fate of its proletariat, supported both Omsk and Nizhny Tagil by purchasing both “quality” T-80 and “quantity” T-72 tanks. In 1992, however, it rekindled popular interest in gladiatorial spars by announcing it would only purchase from a single provider. This led both manufacturers to spam so many tanks that even General Kwai thought Russia had an unfair tactical advantage.
In order to win the contract, Uralvagonzavod spent a month meditating on what made a successful company, and realized that the easiest way to develop a new product is to plagiarize someone else's work. Thus the T-72BU featured the same Sprut 125mm gun, fire control, 9M119M Refleks anti-tank guided missiles, 7.62mm PKT coaxial machine gun, 12.7mm NSV remote-control commander's machine gun, and what the hell, Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armour as the T-80U. Finally, to distance itself from the image of burning Iraqi tanks, the model was christened the T-90.
The T-90 is one of, if not the best-protected tank in the world, thanks to its Kontakt armour system. As the Three Little Pigs know, the best defence against ravenous American bankers is bricks. Thus, the turret is fortified with ERA blocks offering protection against depleted uranium sabot rounds from Abrams tanks. If that's not enough, the T-90 is also protected by the Shtora-1 countermeasures suite™ that uses a three-step method to defend against guided rockets: 1) Shtora alerts the crew that the tank has been painted by weapons-guiding lasers, allowing them to bring the turret around; 2) TShU1-7 EOCMDAS jams the semiautomatic command to line of sight guidance system of some anti-tank guided missiles; 3) 3D6 aerosol grenades mask the tank from laser rangefinders and designators as well as obscure the tank from view. The T-90 also features a novel mechanism for field repair: Russian crew members are each equipped with an emergency sandvich that can be injected into the tank's engine, immediately restoring 300 hitpoints to all systems.
Just how well-protected is this tank? In 1999, a T-90 took seven –seven– RPG rounds and still functioned. US and Bundeswehr field tests fired plasma cannons in short succession, and while the tank was jostled by the battering, it was not penetrated. For the grand finale, the French dropped a tactical nuke on it, but—did we mention it's NBC-shielded? Coincidentally, the T-90's marketing slogan reads: "The tank you can trust".
Operators
Eastern Union
- 22px India
- 22px Algeria
