Russian firm Uralvagonzavod has commenced the delivery of first of modernized T-90M tanks to the army.

“The Russian army has begun to receive modernised T-90M tanks,” said Oleg Salyukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces, during an interview with Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

The agreement involving overhaul and upgrade of the army’s T-90A tanks was inked at the Army 2019 forum this June.

The key difference between the new tank and previous models is the newly-designed turret module, which features multi-layer armour, and with the 125A 2A82-1M cannon, which is also used by the Armata tank.

The T-90M is equipped with a highly-automated Kalina fire control system, as well as a remotely controlled anti-aircraft machine gun with a 12.7-mm Kord MT machine gun. To protect against enemy fire, the tank features anti-cumulative trellised screens and a Relict dynamic defence system.

The modernized tank can fire a 9M119M missile with the tandem cumulative warhead Invar and Invar-M and strike modern and prospective enemy tanks at a distance of up to 5 kilometers. As additional protection, the tank has anti-cumulative screen grids, a set of dynamic and active protection. Crew comfort has been improved with air conditioning.