‘K-2’ Mechanized Battalion Captures Russian T-90S tank

27 October, 2024 Tank T-90S (Bhishma) of the Indian army. Photo from open sources Soldiers of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion "K-2" of the 54th Mechanized Brigade named after Hetman Ivan Mazepa captured a Russian export-intended T-90S tank.

Oleksandr Afanasiev, the battalion's tank crew member, shared the video on Instagram. Armor researcher Andriy Tarasenko details in his Telegram channel that the most noticeable difference between the T-90S and the T-90A is the trapezoidal "Indian" DZ block, which is installed instead of the useless Shtora searchlight. The second difference is that all the inscriptions inside the tank are written in English.

The captured T-90S is equipped with an anti-drone "grill", electronic countermeasure means, television surveillance cameras, and a homemade trawl. It is worth reminding that this is not the first time that Russian-made export-intended tanks have been used on the battlefields of the Russian-Ukrainian war, as they were first spotted back in 2022.

According to the OSINT project ORYX, the Russians lost at least 9 T-90S. In January 2023, Miliarnyi also reported the seizure of an export version of this tank by Ukrainian troops.

T-90S tank

The T-90S is an export version of the T-90. This tank has a number of differences in equipment compared to the basic version.

Unlike the T-90A tanks in service with the Russian army, the export T-90S does not have the Shtora infrared searchlights in the frontal part of the turret.

T-90S (Bhishma) tanks of the Indian Army on parade. Photo credits: www.deccanchronicle.com

Instead, additional dynamic protection containers are installed there. This is one of the main visual differences between the tanks.

The export model is also easier to drive thanks to automatic gear shift and steering wheel steering.