The Russian Army has reportedly lost 100 T-90 Proryv Main Battle Tanks (MBT) in the Ukraine War. The loss could be humiliating for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called them the “best in the world.”
The T-90M losses were documented by Oryx, a Dutch open-source intelligence website that tracks and verifies military losses on both sides. The number of T-90Ms losses may be higher since Oryx only documents losses backed by visual evidence. Nonetheless, these claims could not be independently verified.
A video was recently uploaded on social media showing the destruction of a T-90M MBT. The caption posted along with the footage read, “The Oryx database broke through the 100 lost Russian T-90M tanks. And as a celebration, let’s have a classic T-90M loss!”
The staggering loss alludes to evolving drone tactics, the proliferation of kamikaze drones, and an uptick in the use of First-Person View (FPV) drones by the Ukrainian forces. The attack drones are simple, commercially available, off-the-shelf UAVs retrofitted with warheads or explosives from Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) rounds to be flown into targets.
Nearly all of these kamikaze attack drones are controlled via virtual reality screens strapped over the operator’s eyes and forehead for better control since the feed is seen from the drone’s perspective. More than two-thirds of the Russian tanks that Ukraine’s military has destroyed in recent months have been knocked out using FPVs.
⚡️🇷🇺Russia recently lost its 100th T-90M Breakthrough tank, which Putin considers the best tank.
This was reported by the resource of OSINT-researchers of combat operations "Oryx". pic.twitter.com/BuHXCg4sNW
— 🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 (@front_ukrainian) July 16, 2024
Russia fitted certain T-90Ms with steel cages to protect them from anti-tank weapons and drones. However, as evidenced by video footage of certain T-90M losses, the cages are not always effective. The first-person-view drones have managed to get through several times.
At one point in the ongoing conflict, the Russian military started using larger electronic warfare (EW) systems fixed on the top of the turrets of the T-90M tanks. The tanks also fielded Counter-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems (C-UAS) to thwart drone attacks. However, not all MBTs received those systems.
The massive T-90M loss incurred by Russia may tarnish the reputation of the T-90 and leave President Putin red-faced, given that he projected the tank as the best in the world.
The T-90 is a third-generation main battle tank featuring integrated Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armor blocks and a welded composite armor hull. Instead of the outdated Kontakt-5, the upgraded T-90M model incorporates Relikt integrated Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA), which is intended to shield shaped charges and lessen the impact of armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds.
Also, the tank has slat armor at the back and net armor on the lower portion of the turret to strengthen defenses against rocket-propelled grenades by preventing the warhead from fusing.
The tank’s countermeasure system activates smoke grenade launchers to conceal the vehicle when targeted by a laser beam, reducing the risk of enemy anti-tank-guided weapons with semi-automatic guidance striking it. The smaller size and low profile of the T-90 reportedly allow it to navigate tight spaces such as in forests and mountains, thereby enabling it to entrench itself.
Despite this, the tank has been unable to cope with the pestering threat posed by small killer drones. As experts told EurAsian Times earlier, many tank losses can also be attributed to the fact that Ukraine presents a very different type of threat environment, with most of the action taking place in urban or semi-urban areas of the country.
On the other hand, the menace of kamikaze drones is also equally alarming for Ukraine since Russian UAVs have knocked out some of the best Western armor in Ukraine’s arsenal, including the German Leopard-2 and the US Abrams MBTs. A Ukrainian Commander recently warned that the Abrams needs more protection to survive.
US Abrams in Ukraine Need More Protection
As evidenced by initial battlefield defeats and losses, the Abrams is having a hard time in Ukraine. Experts believe that the US-made Abrams MBTs are fighting in a more challenging situation than the previous wars. Not only are they up against a formidable opponent, but they also lack the protection they would have enjoyed during earlier one-sided conflicts.
The sophisticated M1A1 Abrams tanks in Ukraine are now outfitted with electronic warfare capabilities to ward off Russian drone threats. Both Russian and Ukrainian armed forces have equipped their tanks with reactive armor tiles and cage armor to boost protection during combat missions.
Previous reports suggested that Abrams tanks were getting new production-standard anti-drone armor screens on their turrets and additional explosive reactive armor (ERA) modifications.
However, a Ukrainian tank commander recently was quoted saying that further external protection was needed for these heavily armored vehicles to repel enemy drone and artillery attacks. The commander, known by the call sign Zakon, told Business Insider, “It can save a life.”
Zakon oversees one Abrams tank and three crew members: a driver, a loader, and a gunner. He boasted that his $10 million Abrams was a significant improvement over Ukraine’s early conflict Soviet tanks (such as the T-72 or T-64). He acknowledged that they were still concerned about several Russian threats, especially the small explosive drones.
Zakon said Russian FPV drones seriously threaten the Abrams. They have attacked his tank several times, even in swarms or groups of drones that attack at once.
He recounted one such instance that occurred recently. He claimed that the crew managed to survive by using the tank’s electronic warfare capabilities, which suppress the signal linking the drone operator to the vehicle, and its newly installed anti-drone protective screen, which was made possible by Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front initiative.
According to reports, Ukraine lost at least ten of the 31 Abrams tanks supplied by the United States last year. As the war drags on, it cannot afford to lose more Western tanks, especially as the supply of additional MBTs remains uncertain.
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