T-90M delivered to 1st Guards Tank Army. The new T-90M was first publicly tested during Zapad 2017. It mounts the 2A46M-4 125mm gun, enabling it to fire the new 3BM59 Svinets-1 and 3BM60 Svinets-2 APFSD rounds made of depleted uranium and tungsten respectively as well as Invar-M ATGM.
This modified gun/autoloader combo has enabled the Russians to finally (almost) close the gap in penetrator length with Western ammunition. Protection wise, apart from the cage/slat visible around the turret, the ERA package has evolved from the old Kontakt-5 to the newer Relikt. It also comes with a special curtain like spall liner/fire wall inside the turret and behind the driver’s position.
Taking a leaf out of the T-90SM book, the T-90M stores some of its rounds into a turret bustle, enabling it to carry less ammunition in its autoloader. Finally, it is equipped with a new more powerful engine, the Kalina Fire Control System and its communication hardware has been replaced with data-link capable computers/radios.
It is worth noting that the T-90M was born out of the performance analysis of the T-90(A) during the Syrian conflict.
The 1st Guards Tank Army is based in Smolensk (Western Military District). It was reactivated in 2016 and is slated to be equipped with 500 MBTs in total, including the T-90M and T-72B3 obr. 2016. It is also waiting deliveries of its first BMTP Terminator tank support vehicles. The 1st Guard Tank Army is Russia’s best equipped unit. It is also one of its largest and hardest hitting. It was made by amalgamating several elite formations together. It was created to guard Russia’s Western flank, facing NATO member states.
It is comprised of:
-Army Headquarters (Odintsovo, Moscow Oblast)-60th Command Brigade (Selyatino village near Odintsovo, Moscow Oblast).
-2nd Guards Motor Rifle ‘Tamanskaya’ Division (Kalininets, Moscow Oblast).
-4th Guards Tank ‘Kantemirovskaya’ Division (Naro-Fominsk, Moscow Oblast).
-6th Separate Tank ‘Częstochowa’ Brigade (Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast).
-27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle ‘Sevastopol’ Brigade (Mosrentgen, Moscow City).
-112th Guards Missile ‘Novorossiysk’ Brigade (Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast) (9K720 Iskander)-288th Artillery ‘Warsaw’ Brigade (Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast).
-49th Missile Air Defence Brigade (Krasnyi Bor, Smolensk Oblast) (Buk-M2).
-96th Separate ISTAR Brigade (Sormovo, Nizhny Novgorod City).
-One Combat Engineer Regiment (Moscow Oblast).
-20th Separate NBC Defence Regiment (Tsentralny, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)-69th Separate Logistics Brigade (Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast).
