Ukrainian drones target Russia's elite T‑90M tanks in blitz
The Ukrainians continue to destroy Russian armoured equipment, focusing on the increasingly rare T-90M tanks. These are Russia's top machines, which, even after modifications, have little chance against a swarm of Ukrainian drones.
The video below shows Ukrainian drone operators from the 24th Mechanized Brigade demonstrating the elimination of T-90M, T-72, T-80 tanks, and a BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle near Chasiv Yar. According to a list maintained by the analyst group oryxspioenkop, Russia, based solely on photos and recordings, has already lost at least 122 T-90M tanks.
Tanks from the T-72/90 family are usually a deadly trap
The T-90M tank appeared to be a wartime production model with an added armour plate over the turret and a drone jammer. However, it seems the Ukrainians operated outside its operating frequency or used drones controlled via fibre optic cables or with an artificial intelligence module.
The crew, along with two soldiers riding on the armour, was caught by surprise and can be seen jumping off the tank while the driver closes his hatch. The FPV drone hit was not critical but caused the Russian crew to flee. This is evidenced by open hatches on the turret in recordings from subsequent drone attacks, which finished off the abandoned machine.
The Russians from this unit were luckier than many other tank crew members because a successful hit on a tank from the T-72 or T-90 family usually results in a spectacular ammunition cache explosion, with the turret's characteristic launch even several metres into the air.
The T-90M tank: Final evolution of a flawed machine
The T-90M tanks, introduced into service in 2021, are an evolution of the T-90A machines, effectively a rebranding of the deep modernisation of the T-72B family. The Russians created this series to escape comparisons to the massively destroyed T-72 family during the First Gulf War.
The T-90M tank was also, in the years preceding the full-scale war in Ukraine, a mascot of Russian arms fairs, where Vladimir Putin repeatedly praised it as the best tank in the world.
The key features of the T-90M include a modern fire control system with thermal imaging (initially French, now sourced from alternatives) and dual-layer reactive armour, Relikt, which offers protection against tandem warhead-shaped charges and reduces the effectiveness of kinetic penetrators fired by other tanks. However, the blocks are applied over the basic armour from the T-72B, leaving gaps in protection that Ukrainian drone operators readily exploit.
Like other tanks in the T-72 series, the T-90M has an autoloader with ammunition stored in the hull that is not isolated from the crew. As a result, any penetration of the armour has a high chance of causing the explosion of 22 rounds and propellant charges, often resulting in the dramatic detachment of the turret. The Russians are attempting to field-reinforce the tanks in various ways, with varied success.
