The T-90 is a third-generation Russian main battle tank developed from, and designed to replace the T-72. It uses a 125 mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, the 1A45T fire-control system, an upgraded engine, and gunner's thermal sight. Standard protective measures include a blend of steel and composite armour, smoke grenade dischargers, Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armour (ERA) and the Shtora infrared anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) jamming system.
The T-90 was designed and built by Uralvagonzavod, in Nizhny Tagil, Russia. It entered service with the Russian army in 1992. The tank allegedly first saw combat in the 1999 war in Dagestan, with Russian Ground Forces. Russia later used the tank from 2017 in its intervention in the Syrian civil war. Russian T-90s were deployed in the war in Donbas in 2014, followed by the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Syrian Arab Army used the tank in the Syrian civil war in 2017, as did the Azerbaijani Land Forces in the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
