A modern army cannot be imagined without constantly updated military equipment and weapons. This also applies to heavily armored vehicles.
Many experts predict the extinction of tanks shortly, but tanks are sometimes assigned a decisive role in armed conflicts despite this.
An excellent example of this is the war in Iraq, where the US Army was able to move quickly from the borders to the capital, thanks to the mobility and firepower of its tank troops. Often in the media, there are statements that the alleged T-90 tank does not meet modern requirements for military equipment.
The Germans claim that modern Leopard tanks are the best in the world, have no equal in the opposition, and the Russian T-90 has no rival.
Weapons at the army exhibitionIDEF-2011, held in Istanbul, Otokar presented a prototype of the Turkish Altay MBT, which should have the most advanced weapons and use modern technology. Altay borrowed a lot from the Leopard 2A4 model.
Let’s try to figure out how well the T-90 compares to foreign models with similar characteristics. Let’s examine the main features of the T-90 tanks as the main competitor, the latest development represented by the “Leopard” and the Turkish Altai.
protection system
The T-90 is equipped with sharply differentiated armor protection, which protects itself against direct projectile hits. The primary material used to build the tank body is armor steel.
Multi-layer composite armor is used to protect the front plate with the turret. The armored body of the vehicle has almost the same shape as the T-72. More details about the reservation are classified.
The thickness of the armor steel is 800-830 mm equivalent and 1150-1350 mm equivalent in front of the turret and hull, respectively.
It should be noted that the tank has weakened zones: the area of the viewing device and parts of the turret on both sides. In addition to traditional armor and dynamic protection, the tank is equipped with an active protection system and a modern electronic-optical suppression system, “Shtora-1”, which sideways guided and guided missiles equipped so that not every bullet fired by the enemy will hit the target.
This complex uses infrared emitters that interfere with second-generation anti-tank guided missile guidance systems. Guidance performed on the infrared tracker becomes a “flare,” resulting in the operator’s missile losing its aiming point.
Looking ahead, I will say that the compared analogs do not have such a protection system; therefore, in a duel situation, neither the Turkish Altai nor the German Leopard will be able to resist a guided or guided missile. “Leopard” has less protection.
This is because the total weight of the machine is kept around 50 tons. The level of protection has been slightly improved, thanks to the use of modern welded structures, both the turret and the hull, made of multi-layered armor, and several measures to improve the design layout.
Due to the weakening of the side armor of the roof, turret, and hull, whose thickness is equivalent to 700 mm, the armor thickness in the front part is added to the equivalent of approximately 1000 mm.
The tank has a high-speed automatic NPO complex and smoke grenade launchers, which provide a high degree of protection to the crew in case of armor damage.
Compared to the Turkish tank Altay “Leopard,” it has more armor and is not surprising because the mass of the machine is 60 tons. The specific type of armor used is not yet known.
weaponry
The T-90 is equipped with a 2mm 46A48M smoothbore gun with a barrel length of 125 calibers. 6000mm. The gun was placed in the frontal part of the turret of the tank in a coaxial arrangement with a large-caliber machine gun and fixed along two parallel planes using the 2E42-4 “Jasmine” system.
It has an automatic loading system. When firing armor-piercing cumulative and sub-caliber projectiles, the maximum possible aiming range can be 4000 m; in the case of guided missile ammunition, the entire range is 5000 m when firing high-explosive fragmentation shells – up to 10 m.
The T-90 can fire guided anti-tank missiles of the 9M119M system. When using a guided weapon system, it is possible to achieve an equal probability of hitting a target with a target.
The Leopard has a 120mm smoothbore gun. The length of the barrel of the gun is 5520 mm. Aimed range of fire: in a stationary state – 3 500 m, on the move – 2 500 m. The target uses the EMES-12 system with built-in stereoscopic and laser rangefinders.
Like the Leopard, the Altai tank is equipped with a 120 mm flat gun, a remote-controlled weapon module with built-in stabilization, and a 12.7 mm machine gun.
Tank power units
The T-90 was equipped with a diesel engine that developed 840 horsepower. (in some modifications, the power is increased to 1000 hp), with a liquid cooling system В-84MS.
These engines are multi-fuel and can run on diesel fuel without loss of power and on gasoline or kerosene. The collectors of the B-84MS cooling system are based on unique bellows that allow the exhaust gases to mix with air, which improves the collectors’ temperature regime and reduces the enemy tank’s thermal visibility.
The “Leopard” power system is a one-piece building complex. The engine of the tank is located along its hull, and there is a fireproof partition between the compartment and the fighting compartment. “Leopard” is equipped with a multi-fuel V-shaped 12 cylinders, a diesel engine of the MB 873 model with improved power of 1500 hp.
The behavior of tanks in military cases
In military tests, the tank of the latest development of the Turkish designer Altay showed excellent ability in shooting quality. After ten shots at improvised opponents at a distance of three kilometers from the tank, eight accurate hits were received.
In the case of performing this action at full speed, the result remains practically the same – seven strokes. Turkish designers are confident that such firing rates are among the best in the world.
According to world experts, some analogs are much superior to the tank itself – for example, the German tank “Leopard.” Like the Altai, a Leopard can destroy an opponent at full speed and at a distance of four kilometers, which is precisely one kilometer more than the Turkish model.
The accuracy of the shots is also higher, thanks to the unique guided projectiles, for which the tank calculates its course and flight speed, so it is almost impossible to miss.
In terms of range and accuracy of fire, both Altai and Leopard are inferior to the development of Russian designers – the T-90 tank.
Like its foreign counterparts, it can destroy targets at full speed, while its range has an almost absolute accuracy of fire, which is two kilometers more than analogs – it reaches six thousand meters. Also, a distinctive feature is the presence of armor of increased strength. During the tests, the T-90 armor was fired from 120-mm anti-tank guns.
Six shells were fired at the tank from a distance of two hundred meters, after which the vehicle reached the observation deck on the way. Then, without repair, the T-90 board was fired from a grenade launcher – the armor was also not pierced.
Compared analogs do not have such a protection system; therefore, in a duel situation, neither the Turkish Altai nor the German Leopard will be able to withstand a guided or guided missile.
The advantage of the T-90 tank is undeniable. In particular, there are doubts whether the Turkish and German tanks could even approach the Russians during the war since the T-90 was able to aim fire at a distance of 5000 m, Altai threw only 3000 m, and “Leopard – at 4000 m.
