Success in Syria, Failure in Ukraine: The Russian T-90 Main Battle Tank in Combat

Abstract

Although it had been in use for over a decade, the T-90 main battle tank (MBT) had not seen major combat until the recent conflicts in Syria in Ukraine. Initially praised as the most advanced tank in Russian frontline service, the T-90 saw some success in Syria, being able to withstand the older anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) employed in that warzone. However, upon encountering a variety of effective anti-armor weapons systems in Ukraine, the T-90 has proven to be far from invincible.

Executive Summary

When it comes to Soviet- and Russian-made armor, a number of well-known weapons systems easily come to mind. There is the venerable T-34 heavy tank, which held its own against Axis forces in WWII and UN forces in the Korean War. There is the not-so-venerable T-72 main battle tank (MBT), which saw poor performance in Iraqi service when up against superior Western tanks during the Gulf War. Then there is the T-14 Armata, referred to by some as a “stealth tank,” which is yet unproven in combat, but is still a subject of keen interest and dynamic discussion.

However, when it comes to the T-90 MBT, the first Russian tank to enter service after the fall of the Soviet Union, much less seems to be known and much less attention seems to be paid. Indeed, unlike other better-known Soviet and Russian tanks, a cursory overview of publicly available books on armored warfare shows a clear lack of mentions of the T-90. Although the T-90 entered production in 1994, this state-of-the-art Russian tank saw little actual combat for almost two decades – that is until Russian forces launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022.

The ongoing fighting in Ukraine grants observers a unique, and heretofore unrealized, opportunity to evaluate the Russian T-90 MBT and its performance in Ukraine. Here are the key takeaways available from OSINT sources on this topic:

• The T-90 is the most advanced tank the Russian military is able to deploy in combat.
• The T-90 has proven vulnerable to a variety of weapons systems operated by Ukraine.
• The Russian military has relatively few T-90s, has experienced heavy losses of T-90s, and lacks the ability to rapidly manufacture more of them.
• The T-90 is likely to fare poorly if it encounters Western-made MBTs in future combat.
• The poor combat record of the T-90 in Ukraine is likely to harm its export potential.

Origins, Features, and Variants of the T-90 

On paper, the T-90 appears to be an impressive weapons system, especially when compared to its Soviet predecessors. Based on the earlier T-72 MBT, it features a crew of three (commander, gunner, driver), a 125mm main gun, a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun alongside the main gun, an additional 12.7mm machine gun on a swivel mount atop the turret roof, and explosive reactive armor (explosive charges meant to detonate outward to counteract incoming shells and missiles) on the front of the hull and the front and sides of the turret. However, unlike its predecessors, the T-90 possesses additional technology meant to increase its protection and effectiveness, like a superior fire control computer, improved optics, and an active protection systems.

Though praised by Vladimir Putin as the ‘best in the world,’ the much-lauded T-90 has shown to be anything but that, proving vulnerable to Ukrainian armor, anti-tank weapons, and UAVs

The original mass-produced variant, the T-90A, is equipped with a Shtora “soft-kill active protection” system, intended to detect and jam the guidance systems of early anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and is easily recognizable from the two “red eyes” on the front of the turret, which glow that color when the system is warming up. Included in this system are also laser warning receivers, mounted on the top of turret, which detect and locate the lasers emitted from enemy targeting systems. While the Shtora can counter earlier ATGMs, it is obsolete against newer ones.

In addition to the T-90A, there is the T-90K command tank variant, the T-90S and T-90MS export variants, and the most advanced Russian tank to ever see combat – the improved T-90M.

The T-90 in Syria

 In November 2015, an estimated six Russian T-90s were provided to the government forces of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its militia proxies to combat rebel forces, as well as to better combat test the vehicle and display its capabilities to potential foreign buyers. T-90s first saw combat in Syria in December 2015, and they took part in multiple successful tactical moves against opposition forces. In February 2016, the first use of an ATGM by opposition forces against a T-90, specifically one of their older and numerous US-made BGM-71 TOW models, was recorded with the missile striking the turret and failing to destroy the vehicle. Additional accounts from Syria indicate that TOWs were ineffective in penetrating the frontal armor of T-90, thanks to the aforementioned explosive reactive armor. Luckily for the SAA and their Russian allies, the TOW missile was the best ATGM opposition forces had, possessing nothing more advanced that could pose a real threat to the T-90.

T-90s in Ukraine

Though T-90 made a good account of itself in Syria, the experience of the T-90 in Ukraine has been quite a different story.

Weaknesses of the T-90

Although reports of this are largely unverified, some Russian T-90s may have been sent into Ukraine in 2014 during Russian’s partial occupation of that country, prior to their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It is thought that the older, inferior tanks then operated by Ukraine were ineffective against the supposedly state-of-the-art T-90. It is also theorized that the alleged effectiveness of the T-90 against Ukrainian armor circa 2014 encouraged Russia to send T-90s to fight in Syria in 2015. However, in more recent and better documented accounts of the T-90 operating in Ukraine from 2022 onwards, the story is far less favorable for this Russian MBT.

Probably the most alarming flaw found within the T-90 is a design feature carried over from the earlier T-72. Unlike Western tanks like the US-made M1 Abrams, which contains a partition between its crew and ammunition for additional safety, the T-90 keeps its main gun ammunition in a carousel inside the crew area, stored in such a way that if it is detonated by enemy fire the explosion could blow the entire turret skyward. This effect is sometimes referred to, with grim humor, as the “jack-in-a-box,” the “carousel of death,” or “turning Russian tankers into cosmonauts.” Such occurrences of Russian T-72s and, presumably, T-90s having their turrets blown as high as 250’ in the air have been witnessed in Ukraine. Reports have also indicated that the T-90M has demonstrated a reverse speed that is slower than ideal, hampering these tanks when they are attempting to beat a hasty retreat.

Ukrainian Countermeasures to the T-90

One much publicized and effective anti-armor weapon used by Ukrainian forces is the US-made FGM-148 Javelin, which follows a “top-attack profile” to strike tanks where their armor is weakest on the turret roof. Thanks to its success against Russian forces, the Javelin has taken on a role as a symbol of Ukrainian defiance against the Russian aggressor, manifesting itself in “Saint Javelin” memorabilia. While the older TOW missiles used in Syria against T-90s may not have been fully effective, the Javelin has shown its ability to destroy T-90s in Ukraine. Along with the more modern and advanced Javelin, the T-90 has also proven vulnerable to older anti-tank weapons in Ukraine, including the unguided munitions of the Swedish-made Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle. In fact, in the first known incident of a Russian T-90M being neutralized by Ukrainian forces, the latter used a Carl Gustaf to take down the former.

The Ukrainian forces’ widespread and inventive use of small, variously sourced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or “drones”) has been a fascinating focal point of this conflict. They have also been used to attack Russian vehicles, including the T-90, in some cases positing explosives directly into enemy vehicles via open hatches. In response to Ukrainian weapons systems that may attack the T-90 and other tanks from above, like Javelins and drones, Russian forces have fastened a variety of types of “cage” or “shed” on the top of their armored vehicles in the attempt to block such munitions. These makeshift accouterments have had only limited success in stopping the Ukrainian anti-armor weapons they were to counter.

When it comes to tank-versus-tank combat, in some incidents Ukrainian tank have needed as many as three Ukrainian tanks in order to take down a Russian T-90. However, these tankers may have been referring to older Soviet-era tanks, like the T-72 and T-80, which made up the Ukrainian armor inventory at the start of the invasion in 2022.

While Ukraine received superior Western MBTs as the conflict continued, specifically the US-made M1 Abrams and the German-made Leopard 1 and Leopard 2, it is difficult to find accounts of M1s and Leopards going head-to-head with T-90s, at least as of February 2025. This is likely due to the heavy losses and fewer remaining numbers of the T-90, and the later arrival of the Western tanks onto the battlefield after many T-90s had already been lost. The M1s and Leopards are not totally invincible themselves, and a handful have been destroyed, disabled, or captured by the Russians. Still, these Western tanks are regarded as being far better than any MBT Russia has fielded in Ukraine.

We might say that the T-90 is an ‘endangered species’ of a tank that will roam the fields of Ukraine in fewer and fewer numbers.

In addition to Western tanks, the T-90 has proved vulnerable to the American-made M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). Although seemingly not as powerful the main gun of an MBT, there have been multiple cases documented of M2s disabling or destroying T-90s using their 25mm autocannon. Considering that the M2 entered service a decade before the T-90, and the former can effectively combat the latter, this reflects quire poorly on the T-90.

An account from April 2023 describes Ukrainian tactics to counter the T-90 largely occurring in a two-step process – first immobilize the tank, then neutralize it. However, in cases when the Russian tank is immobilized and the crew abandons it, an opportunity for the Ukrainians to capture, repair, and re-use this valuable weapon system may occur, combat conditions permitting. It has been joked that the biggest supplier of weapons to Ukraine in their war against Russia is actually Russia, and T-90s are considered to be an exceptionally valuable catch when captured by the Ukrainians.

Russian T-90 Losses and Production

Estimates find that the Russian armaments industry might be able to produce as many as 90 new T-90s per year. However, like many other types of Russian equipment, losses of these tanks have been heavy. The invasion began in February 2022, and by July of the same year at least 100 T-90s were thought to have been destroyed, damaged, or captured, with total Russian tanks losses being something like 3,000 in all. Being the newest Russian tank seeing use in Ukraine, it is doubtful that Russia possesses the sizable reserves of T-90s as it does other, older tanks it has saved up from the Cold War.

Future Predictions

Though praised by Vladimir Putin as the “best in the world,” the much-lauded T-90 has shown to be anything but that, proving vulnerable to Ukrainian armor, anti-tank weapons, and UAVs. The fact that the T-90 is newer than many of the Ukrainian weapons systems that have defeated it – the original Carl Gustaf design dates from way back in 1948 – is an especially disappointing aspect of this tank’s combat record in Ukraine. As mentioned above, some variants of the T-90 were created to be sold to militaries outside Russia, most notably India. It is not hard to envision Russia having difficulty in selling the T-90 to new buyers in the future, given its now tarnished reputation.

If it is ever to encounter Western-made MBTs in a tank-versus-tank engagement, whether in Ukraine or elsewhere, it is doubtful that the T-90 would pose much of a threat to opposing tanks. Rather, since the M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 have been described as exceptional tanks by Ukrainian tankers familiar with them and other Soviet- and Russian-made tanks, both from operating and fighting against the latter, we can assume the M1 and Leopard 2 would probably best the T-90 if they ever came into combat with each other. For countries like Finland and Poland which operate the M1 and/or the Leopard 2 (the older Leopard 1 tanks operated by Ukraine have been largely phased out of other European militaries), and which might face Russian aggression in the future, this should be of some comfort for them.

Much has been said and written about Russia’s heavy losses of tanks, including T-90s, in Ukraine and their overall dwindling stocks of operational armor. Given that relatively few T-90s were originally made, many have been lost, and Russia cannot produce replacements rapidly, we might say that the T-90 is an “endangered species” of a tank that will roam the fields of Ukraine in fewer and fewer numbers. Between this, and the likely unwillingness of foreign buyers to consider procuring them from Russia, the T-90 does not seem destined to have a long and impressive record of wartime service. Rather, it may soon be discarded upon the scrap pile of history.