Coinciding with preparations for the Victory Day celebrations, the Russian Ground Forces have received the first batch of new T-72B3M and T-90M tanks for the year 2025. This was recently reported by the state corporation Rostec, which highlighted the various modifications and upgrades these armored combat vehicles have undergone over the past three years.
Currently, the T-72B3M and T-90M tanks, alongside the T-80BVM, make up the main battle tanks deployed by the Russian Ground Forces on the Ukrainian battlefield. However, attrition and lessons learned from three years of conflict have led to the tanks now rolling out of Uralvagonzavod’s production lines being different from those deployed in the early weeks of February 2022.
According to various reports, the armored combat vehicles come equipped with basic and mandatory systems for their handover to the Ground Forces. Among the upgrades are “… electronic warfare systems to neutralize drones. All of them are equipped with FPV drone mesh protection and rubber-reinforced shielding installed at the rear of the turret and the engine-transmission compartment,” Rostec stated in its official release, noting up to 200 modifications applied to these main battle tanks (MBTs).
Also noteworthy is the adoption of new Nakidka optical camouflage systems, used on both tanks and armored vehicles, aimed at preventing or delaying detection by guided munitions, such as ATGMs.
Another system reportedly being incorporated by the Ground Forces is the latest version of the Arena-M T09-A6-1 active protection system, which was officially unveiled during the 2024 edition of the ARMY expo held in Moscow.
As is often the case with such announcements, Rostec did not provide further details on the number of tanks delivered to the Russian Ground Forces, aside from highlighting the steady increase in production volume and reduction in delivery times. On the matter, the first Deputy General Director of Rostec, Vladimir Artyakov, stated: “… a flexible system for armored vehicle production and modernization has been established. This system has made it possible, on one hand, to multiply the production of these complex vehicles and, on the other, to make operational changes to their design when required by real-world conditions. There is no other adaptive system like this anywhere else in the world.”
Finally, as mentioned, the delivery of the new T-72B3M and T-90M tanks marks the first batch received by the Russian Ground Forces so far this year, with the previous delivery taking place at the end of last year.
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