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Key Points and Summary: Russia’s T-90M main battle tank, touted as its most advanced, is suffering significant losses in Ukraine. Despite upgrades like a powerful V-92S2F engine and advanced weaponry, design flaws—particularly its autoloading system that exposes ammunition—make it vulnerable to anti-tank missiles and drones.

-Reports suggest over 175 T-90Ms were lost early in the war, with production unable to keep pace.

-This issue reflects broader tactical shortcomings in Russia’s military, including a lack of after-action reviews to improve strategies.

-Without addressing these problems, the T-90M risks becoming another casualty of outdated warfare methods.

Russia’s T-90M Tank: Modern Design, Battlefield Failure

It is supposed to be Russia’s most modern and best tank, but the T-90M main battle tank is bleeding out in Ukraine. Russia can’t build enough of them to keep up with the losses. Vladimir Putin’s tank force has been a significant disappointment during the war. 

First, it was anti-tank missiles such as the Javelin and NLAW. Then, it was the swarming, loitering kamikaze drones that dropped down on tank turrets, roasting the soldiers inside. The T-90M just can’t buy a break.

Losses Are Astounding

The T-90M is the most advanced variant of the T-90 family, and it is getting pummeled.

 Even a year ago, it looked terrible for the armored vehicle. 

Last January, Oryx reported that Russia lost more than 175 T-90M tanks in the war. There are surely many more that have gone down the drain in the last 12 months. Of the other T-90 variants, several were abandoned and captured intact by Ukrainian forces, yielding a treasure trove of intelligence data.

Best Tank in the World? I Doubt It

Putin has boasted that this was the best tank in the world before the war. And this inconvenient fact that should rankle the Russian dictator has emerged: Russia may have lost as many as 8,000 tanks in the war, according to Ukrainian sources. 

The first T-90 joined the army in the early 1990s, but by the beginning of the war, the fourth variant – the T-90M – was rolling around the battlefield in Ukraine, getting shellacked. The T-90M had entered service in 2019 to prepare for the invasion.

It was built on the chassis of the T-72 and borrowed the T-80 turret.

T-90M tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Improvements to the T-90M Were Supposed to Succeed

Russian engineers added a souped-up V-92S2F engine with 1,100 horsepower and the more powerful 125mm 2A46 gun for the T-90M. This should have been a winning combination and the T-90M was showed off in military parades with Putin and Russian generals smiling in approval.

Autoloading System Is Faulty

But Russian engineers made a mistake in its design. The National Interest identified a big reason the T-90M and other Russian tanks are getting pummeled in Ukraine.

“Russian tanks have a structural design flaw that makes it quite easy for a suicide drone or an anti-tank missile approaching at an angle to simply detonate the whole tank. Instead of using a loader to replenish the main gun, Russian tanks use an autoloading system. The idea is to have a smoother and more efficient rate of fire. However, it also means the autoloading system needs to have easy access to the tank’s ammunition, which is unprotected and close to the turret. As a result, it only takes one hit to turn a Russian tank into a fireball and propel its turret hundreds of feet in the air.”  

This even allows infantry fighting vehicles like the Bradley to enjoy the fun. Two Bradleys used TOW missiles to damage a T-90M early last year seriously, and then a loitering drone blew it up for good. 

T-90M. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

T-90M. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Russia can’t replace the T-90M fast enough. Existing plants are running behin,d and Putin and his defense industry would have to build a new factory to keep up.

 The think tank IISS wrote, “To increase numbers, [of the T-90M] production lines at factories and foundries will have to be either restarted… or built from scratch. Despite increases in the production of newly built tanks relative to peacetime output, supplying enough tanks to offset current attrition rates is likely to become more challenging.”

Without many T-90s of all variants, the Russians are engaging in dreadful frontal assaults with few modern tanks. They succumb to missiles and kamikaze drones, and the dismounted infantry are left to die.

The Russians Need to Figure Out What Is Going On

The Russian generals don’t seem to care. A big difference between the U.S. military and the Russian forces is the use of “After Action Reviews.” 

When combat is concluded, all officers and soldiers meet and share what went right or wrong after an engagement. 

This is noodled around until a consensus on what to do in future battles emerges. Therefore, there is a plan of action and conceptual changes, plus new tactics and techniques that can help soldiers survive in the future.

Russia doesn’t seem to do these types of examinations. They are paying the price of repeatedly executing procedures that lose soldiers in a war of attrition. They are grinding out small gains, but the costs are high. It is unclear how long they can keep this up without changing tactics.

T-90M. Image Credit: Russian State Media.

T-90M. Image Credit: Russian State Media.

They may have to keep the tanks in reserve or in defensive positions and rely on the air force to drop glide bombs and other types of air-to-surface missiles for close air support when Russian troops are in hairy situations.

The T-90M has been a failure in Ukraine. This must make Putin’s generals seethe in anger. They are probably lying to the Russian supreme leader about actual tank losses. There needs to be some change in tactics if Russia is to push Ukraine out of its defensive position. 

The Russians look clueless and stubborn with the mass frontal assaults that do not yield results. The T-90M is a cautionary tale for an army that refuses to change. Expect more of the modern tanks to meet a humiliating death. 

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.