Breaking news
Defense industry of Russia continues to deliver T-90M tanks to Russian army.
According to a video published by Uralvagonzavod on its Russian Social Network VK on September 10, 2022, the Russian manufacturer of main battle tanks Uralvagonzavod has delivered a new batch of T-90M main battle tanks and BREM-1M armored recovery vehicles to the Russian army.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Russian army T-90M main battle tank. (Picture source Army Recognition)
Despite the European economic sanction against Russia, the Russian defense industry continues to produce military equipment and combat vehicles for the Russian army. At the same time, Russia continues to export and recently, Rosoboronexport, the state defense company was in ADEX, a defense exhibition in Azerbaijan to promote its full range of defense products.
Citing a U.S. congress report, Arms sales are a central element of Russia’s foreign policy and are closely controlled by the government to advance economic and strategic objectives. Russian arms sales provide an important source of hard currency, promote Russia’s defense and political relations with other countries, and support important domestic industries.
Russia is the world’s second-largest arms exporter, behind the United States. Russia exports arms to over 45 countries and has accounted for around 20% of global arms sales since 2016. Many countries have long-standing arms relationships with Russia, some dating back to the Soviet Union. Despite its global presence, Russia exports a majority of its arms to five states: Algeria, China, Egypt, India, and Vietnam. India has been the largest importer of Russian arms since 2016. Russia is attempting to broaden its client base and is aggressively pursuing new markets in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
Russia exports a variety of weaponry, including legacy and advanced aircraft, air defense systems, naval vessels and submarines, radars, missiles, tanks, armored vehicles, small arms, and artillery. According to official Russian statistics, aircraft make up 50% of Russian arms exports. Most current Russian arms are updated versions of legacy systems, but Russia is increasingly marketing its most technologically advanced systems.
The T-90M is the latest generation of main battle tank in the T-90 family. It is an improved version of the T-90 featuring new protection, mobility, and firepower. The T-90M was tested for the first time by the Russian army during the military exercise Zapad-2017 which was held from 14 to 20 September 2017.
The main armament of the T-90M Model 2017 Proryv-3 consists of one 125 mm 2A46M-4 smoothbore gun able to fire standard ammunition but also anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) Refleks NATO Code AT-11 Sniper-B. The layout of the T-90M Model 2017 Proryv-3 is similar to all the families of Russian T-90 MBT with a driver at the front, a turret in the center, and the powerpack at the rear.
The T-90M features a new all-welded turret design protected by the Relikt ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) armor fitted at the front and on each side of the turret. It features higher protection performance and serviceability compared with the Kontakt-5 ERA suite.
The BREM-1M is an armored recovery vehicle based on a modified chassis of the T-72A tank. The turret of the original T-72 is removed and replaced by a crane as well as welding equipment and various tools to perform repair and recovery of tanks on the battlefield.
Russian army BREM-1M armored recovery vehicle. (Picture source Vitaly Kuzmin)