MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. The Russian Armed Forces’ T-90M Proryv (Breakthrough) main battle tank is performing excellently during the special military operation in Ukraine and will serve for at least another decade, General Designer of Uralvagonzavod Group (UVZ, part of the Rostec state tech corporation) Andrey Terlikov told TASS in connection with the unveiling in Moscow of a monument to Yury Maksarev, creator of the world’s first assembly line for the T-34 tank and founder of the Russian patent system.
"The tank was developed in the 1990s. Its service life is at least 50 years," he said, noting that Russian military personnel operating T-90M tanks on the battlefield assess them as "highly effective in carrying out combat missions" in the special military operation zone.
He added that the T-90M is undergoing continuous modernization to improve its performance characteristics, especially its protection. Specifically, "an all-aspect fire protection system for the tank has been developed," primarily against enemy drones, he said.
Terlikov believes that NATO’s Abrams, Leopard, and other tanks used by the Ukrainian armed forces have numerous shortcomings, including excessive weight, poor cross-country ability, poor maneuverability, and weak protection. "Our T-90M tank is superior compared with all of these models," he emphasized.
Terlikov also reported that UVZ is developing a next-generation tank based on new technologies. On May 26, a monument to Uralvagonzavod legend Yury Maksarev was unveiled near the Rospatent building in Moscow. It was he who, in October 1941, having taken charge of Plant No. 183, which had been evacuated to the Urals and merged with Uralvagonzavod, introduced the world’s first continuous-flow production line for assembling the legendary T-34 tank.