T‑90m tank's troubled turret: Putin's pride under fire in Ukraine

The T-90M is considered the best tank available to Russian units participating in the invasion of Ukraine. According to representatives of the Russian army and Vladimir Putin himself, these tanks were supposed to be highly advanced—machines that even NATO could envy. However, the ongoing conflict has revealed that the T-90M faces several significant problems, one of which affects the turret.

The Ukrainians have already destroyed many T-90M units. Most successful attacks have been recorded on video, often featuring similar shots of the Russian tank's turret spinning uncontrollably. Some journalists and analysts call this issue the "spinning turret syndrome." This makes combat impossible and, in most cases, even prevents safe evacuation from the battlefield. Consequently, T-90Ms are often abandoned, giving Ukrainians the opportunity to “finish them off,” most often by dropping grenades from drones.

Such problems have not been observed with other Russian tanks. So far, there is no certainty regarding the causes of these occurrences. Based on recordings of attacks, the turrets of T-90M tanks start to "go crazy", sometimes even after an attack with a relatively low-impact weapon, such as a kamikaze drone.

Some analysts suggest that this issue may be related to the fire control system, which may send false signals due to optical damage. It is also worth noting that T-90M tanks are equipped with an electric turret rotation mechanism. This mechanism is much faster than the hydraulic one but is also more complicated and can fail if the electronics are defective.

Earlier reports from the Ukrainians may reinforce such assumptions. Based on the analysis of units captured by the Russians, it was established that the T-90M suffers from numerous flaws. These include a weaker engine than the specifications indicated, radio communication difficulties, and low-durability microelectronics. This has led to claims that the T-90M is a “failure instead of a breakthrough.”

Vladimir Putin calls the T-90M the "best tank in the world." Although the war in Ukraine shows that it is far from that, it remains significantly more dangerous than other such machines available to the Russians. It is the newest tank in the T-90 family, which was introduced in 1992. It has a 2A46M-5 125mm cannon with the Kalina fire control system, two machine guns (7.62mm and 12.7mm), and construction reinforced with modular reactive armour Relikt.

The value of each T-90M tank is estimated at around £3.4 million.