On the Kherson battlefield, the modern T-90M tank of Russia and the Leopard 2A4 of Ukraine are likely to engage in combat.
The idea of the Russian-made main battle tank (MBT) T-90M confronting the Ukrainian Army’s Leopard 2A4 for the first time has piqued the international media’s curiosity. Images of a convoy of Leopard 2A4 tanks that were recently found on the border between Mykolaiv and Kherson while crossing the Ingulets river indicate that Kyiv acquired these tanks from Spain and decided to engage in the toughest warfare after receiving them.
Russia has taken a special action in response to the Leopard 2A4 NATO shipment to Ukraine by sending its most modern main combat tank, the T-90M Proryv-3, to Kherson. There is now only a platoon of four, but it is anticipated that this will quickly increase. In the context of fighting Western sanctions that have left them short on both the money and the essential weapons, the T-90M tank is the best armoured vehicle that Russia can deploy on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The most recent MBT T-90 series modernization, the T-90M Proryv-3, was introduced to the Russian Army in 1994. Protection, mobility, and firepower have all been greatly enhanced with the updated T 90 tank. The AT-11 Sniper-B anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) may be fired through the barrel of the 125 mm 2A46M-4 smoothbore cannon that is part of the T-90M version.
Its secondary armament consists of a remote-controlled weapon station outfitted with a 7.62 mm PKTM coaxial machine gun and a 12.7 mm NSVT heavy machine gun. The cockpit is located at the front of the Proryv-3, the turret is located in the middle, and the engine is located at the back, much like earlier T-90 variants. Its 1,130 horsepower 12-cylinder engine powers it to a top speed of 50 km/h off-road and 60 km/h on tarmac.
New Relikt ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) armour is installed on the tank’s front and each side of the turret. During the international exercise Zapad-2017 in September 2017, the T-90M underwent its initial test. Unknown numbers of T-90Ms were sent to Ukraine in the spring, and in May, Uralvagonzavod, a Rostec member company and the manufacturer, performed a ceremony to deliver a number of the vehicles to the Russian Army.
According to the Rostec press office, “Preparation and homogenization in the mass production of this modern combat vehicle has been carried out at the firm with fully satisfactory results through the tests of the properties of the contemporary combat vehicles.” Although it was greatly appreciated, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that more than 20 Russian T-90M tanks were destroyed by Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield in the Donbass, which is more than half of the total number of tanks deployed there.
The above number may have been exaggerated for propaganda purposes, but it is clear that the T-90M Proryv-3 is not an invincible weapon, it is completely capable of being destroyed by Ukrainian tanks. The Ukrainian army should avoid a direct conflict with the Proryv-3, but it is nonetheless important to underline that the T-90M is thought to be comparable to the Leopard 2A6 and obviously superior to the long-standing 2A4 version. It is reasonable to anticipate positive outcomes.
