In the Donetsk region, the Ukrainians destroyed something impressive. It turns out, the pride of the Russian armoured forces explodes as easily as their old tanks. And this has to be worrying for them, because drones are small and pretty much homemade – they can improve much faster than main battle tanks.
The defenders of Ukraine started destroying T-90M tanks with anti-tank missiles at first. Image credit: Armyinform.com.ua via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
Forbes reports that near Avdiivka, a Russian assault group, probably belonging to the 3rd Army, attacked Ukrainian positions. The attack involved 6 tanks such as T-80BVM and T-90M, infantry fighting vehicles BMP-2 and other equipment, including the TOS-1 multiple launch rocket system. The Russians approached menacingly, but were stopped by the kamikaze drones of the Ukrainian 60th and 63rd Mechanised Brigades.
Some Russian soldiers managed to survive – they hastily withdrew, abandoning 6 tanks, including 4 T-90Ms, and other equipment. The TOS-1 was destroyed almost immediately as it is a well-hated weapon among the defenders of Ukraine.
What is strange about this story? The T-90M ‘Proryv’ is the most modern Russian tank in existence. This title would go to the T-14 Armata tank, but it does not exist in reality. Thus, the T-90M, in service since 2016, is the most modern Russian tank in Ukraine and in the Russian forces in general. The Ukrainian soldiers already knew that the Proryv could be destroyed with anti-tank missiles, despite it having the dynamic protection tiles. But the T-90M also has to fear cheap FPV drones.
A drone costing only 500-550 dollars can damage a T-90M worth millions. Even if it is not immediately destroyed, it can be damaged so much that the Russians will have to abandon it and leave it in the fields for complete destruction.
The defenders of Ukraine have an explanation for why this is the case. Andriy Rudik, a representative of the Ukrainian Center for the Research of Captured and Advanced Military Equipment, says that the T-90M is not even a new tank. Experts say that the T-90M is a modernized T-72B3. The fact that the T-90 was based on the T-72 architecture and was supposed to replace it is not surprising.
However, Ukrainian experts claim that the T-90M is not new at all. According to them, the Russians are pulling T-72B3s out of storage and modernizing them by installing thermal imagers, targeting systems, electronics, additional armour and more powerful engines, transforming the T-72B3 into a T-90M. This results in a fundamentally updated T-72B3, but not a radically new tank.
Be that as it may, the fact is that the T-90M explodes just as easily as other Russian tanks, and cheap drones do kill it. Of course, Russian main battle tanks can be improved, but this would take a while. Meanwhile, the FPV drones are improving constantly, and new ideas there can be implemented almost instantly due to the lack of standardization in their manufacturing process.
Written by Povilas M.