New T-90 tanks roll off the assembly line for the Ukraine war

Russia has suffered heavy losses on the Ukraine front. Now there are plans to receive new T-90 tanks. But the numbers appear to be made up.

Moscow – The T-90M, “which Vladimir Putin once called the ‘best tank in the world’”, has recently raised eyebrows and raised questions about the Russian president’s assessment. At least that is what the Kyiv Independent Mid-July. The modern tank of the Russian invasion army is causing heated discussions in the Ukraine war. Putin is obviously operating with figures that correspond more to his wishes than to reality. However, analysts can obviously only speculate.

According to research by the statistics platform Oryx The Russian army had lost 100 T-90 tanks during the first year of the war, although Russia had only started the invasion with an estimated 67 systems of this type. Oryx counted the destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured under the heading “loss”. Kyiv Independent This allows us to draw conclusions about the significance of this tank model.

Losses in the Ukraine war: Russia loses tanks at the front – and needs supplies

In total, Russia lost 8,000 tanks in the month before the report was published. The T-90 model is only a fraction of that. But it is clearly an important building block in Vladimir Putin’s plans. According to the magazine star Above all, Russia needed the modern T-90 tanks as a mobile fire brigade against a possible renewed threat of a counter-offensive from Ukraine. The sectors that are of particular interest for such a Ukrainian counter-offensive are being reinforced by the deployment of modern Russian tanks. But this means that there is a risk of continued high losses at the front.

What Putin didn’t say: “Russian T-90M production: less than it initially appears”

According to the Military watch Magazine, the army has now received new T-90 tanks. The size of the shipment is unknown, “but the delivery was preceded by more than two years of efforts to significantly increase the production of T-90 tanks in order to meet war needs in view of the war in Ukraine and increasing tensions with NATO members,” writes the Russian media: “Some reports indicate that over 300 T-90Ms will be delivered in 2024.”

“The Russian tank is much more rustic and brutal than the Western one. (…) The military plans for losses.”

According to the magazine, the Russian state-owned tank factory Uralwagonsawod, which belongs to the Rostec Group, hardly produced anything for local needs in the 2010s – Military watch speaks of only ten tanks; however, a lot of the tanks were built for export, especially to Algeria and India. According to the magazine, the factory feels it is capable of producing far more than 1,000 tanks per year, which would bring it close to the production figures of the Soviet era.

The T-90 in its various versions, which is the most advanced but much cheaper than the T-14 Armata, is considered the future of Russian tank weapons. However, Russia also seems to have to save face in this regard – Michael Gjerstad currently judges: “Russian T-90M production: less than it initially appears.” The analyst at the think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) calculates that at least 13 batches of T-90M have been delivered since the invasion. Gjerstad suspects, based on figures from the Russian military and analysts, that each batch should have included between 11 and 15 tanks.

Russia’s deadly doctrine: Small tanks with little resistance on the Ukraine front

According to this, the Russian armed forces should have acquired almost 200 new tanks for the Ukraine front since the beginning of the invasion. Gjerstad says that a maximum of 267 T-90 tanks can be built or modernized since April 2020. This would exceed the figures of the Kyiv Independent confirm. However, if die Oryx-Figures are also correct, the already small fleet of these modern tanks has also shrunk enormously quickly, and Russia is chasing a deficit of modern battle tanks.

As the British secret service has concluded, Russia would have to meet its need for battle tanks in Ukraine with other variants or older models. The historian Ralf Raths explains the technical differences in western and eastern tank construction by saying that Russian tanks are built more simply, making them smaller and harder to hit. However, this would also be at the expense of resistance to fire, says the director of the German Tank Museum in Münster at his youtube-Channel.

Offensive tragedy: The Russian armada proves to be hardly suitable for the Ukraine front

Technically, the T-90 is a combination of the chassis of a T-72 with the systems of the turret of the T-80. Ralf Raths emphasizes the relationship between all T models, which have been continuously developed in terms of drive, armor and firepower, but which did not offer any revolutionary new technology until the T-14 Armata. The T-90 is evolutionary, unlike its successor, the T-14 Armata, which can be described as revolutionary due to its uncompromising focus on technology and sensors.

The Armata, which was used sparingly in Ukraine, has had little impact on the fronts there. Basically, it was already prone to technical problems before it was deployed. Ultimately, the difference in a tank’s combat capability is determined by the training of the crew and the leadership of the tank unit, says Raths.

Russia’s war list in the Ukraine war: Huge tank halls could simply be empty

Michael Gjerstad believes he has found out that tanks are being sent to the front at a ratio of 1:3 – for every newly built tank, there are three upgrades of old models. The question is how many tanks Russia has taken over from the Soviet era and stored. According to his research, former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke in December of 1,530 tanks being delivered in 2023. However, Gjerstad assumes that most of this included upgraded tanks.

The impression that Russia is building up its arsenal is therefore probably wrong; the other way around, it would mean that Russia is draining its stocks. According to him, Russian tank garages can be seen on satellite images; but whether the estimated possible capacity of 1,600 battle tanks is actually stored in them remains Russia’s secret. The bunker could contain other vehicles or simply be empty. Given this possible ruse, the actual size of the T-90 fleet also remains a big secret.

Gjerstad suspects that up to 28 T-90M vehicles will be built this year. The final actual strength would then be determined by the upgraded T-90A models; and their number is continuously decreasing. At the beginning of 2024, Russia will still have an estimated 150 T-90A tanks in its inventory, writes the IISS-Analyst.

Putin’s reality: High losses are planned for the offensives

The T-90M is simply better protected than its predecessor and has enhanced countermeasures capabilities: This includes built-in explosive reactive armor to protect against shaped charges and to minimize the impact of armor-piercing projectiles on the armor steel hull. But Russia’s T-90 tanks have already been the subject of criticism several times during this war.