The Russians produce defective T-90M

The invaders complained about the poor quality of the T-90M Proryv tanks manufactured by the Russian defense industry. A video featuring an overview of the combat vehicle's defects was published on social media. The Russian military published a photo and video featuring the T-90M tank after an unknown munition hit the left side of the combat vehicle's hull.

As a result of the hit, the welds on the tank's turret broke apart. Penetrating the armor of tanks is usual on the battlefield, but hull's breaking into pieces from the detonation of ammunition is an unusual and abnormal thing for tanks. According to the author of the video, as a result of the battle, the tank was hit, but the crew survived, and, according to the shooting location, the vehicle was evacuated from the battlefield. The left side of the vehicle was hit by an opponents of the Russian tank crew, but the armor was not penetrated.

The Russians do not specify the type of ammunition that was used to hit the combat vehicle, but it can be said for sure that the hull was subjected to a significant physical load, which, in addition to the lack of armor penetration, looks like a hit by high-explosive munitions.

The welded seam of the T-90M turret broke apart as a result of the hit, June 2023

In addition to the destruction of the hull itself it also were the disabled equipment inside the tower, broken sighting devices. The tank commander's panoramic sight on which was installed a turret with a Kord 12.7mm machine gun was also completely destroyed by the explosion. The condition of the engine and automatic gun loader, which is very sensitive to deformations of the case and prone to jamming, is unknown.

In general, such damages make the tank unrepairable, so it will most likely be scrapped and used for spare parts for other equipment.

Defective hulls

As already mentioned above, the destruction of the hull of the welded turret is an abnormal phenomenon, because the design and manufacturing technology of such joints is designed to withstand similar hits and loads. The deformations of the turret hull and the separation of its armor plates along the weld shown in the video are nothing more than a manufacturing defect of the Russian Uralvagonzavod machine-building company, which produces these vehicles.

The process of manufacturing the hull of the T-90M tank. Photo from open sources

The cause of such destruction can be both non-compliance with welding technology and the use of unsuitable electrodes by welders.

All this can be a consequence of both corruption and the general degradation of the post-Soviet tank building industry in the Russian Federation, in particular, Uralvagonzavod.