Russia Is Churning Out Hundreds of New T-90M Tanks—But Why Aren't They All in Ukraine?
Moscow is stockpiling its best armor. The question is: for what fight?
Production of the 51-ton, three-person T-90M tanks has more than tripled since 2022, despite tightening foreign sanctions on Russia’s Uralvagonzavod tank plant.
The T-90M is Russia’s best tank. Thickly armored and boasting high-end optics and a powerful 125-millimeter main gun, the T-90M is the closest Russian analogue to America’s best M-1A2 tank and Germany’s best Leopard 2A7.
Despite losing more than 4,000 tanks in Ukraine since widening its war on the country in February 2022, and despite successive rounds of sanctions on Russia’s arms industry, Russia has managed to expand production of the T-90M at Uralvagonzavod.
That’s the conclusion of a new study from the pro-Ukraine Conflict Intelligence Team. “According to our estimates, Uralvagonzavod produced 60 to 70 T-90M tanks in 2022. In 2023, amid efforts to mobilize the defense industry, output may have increased to 140 to 180 tanks, and by 2024, it may have surpassed 200 units annually, possibly approaching a production rate of 250 to 300 tanks per year.”
It’s obvious why.
Latvia + Lithuania. Open plains suited to armored thrusts. Drones will be less of a factor with EMP pulse weapons on armored hulls.