On one of the videos of the production of Russian tanks from Uralvagonzavod, attentive viewers noticed the chalk numbers “379” on board the compartment of the Т-90М auxiliary power unit. This gave them reason to assume that four hundred or even more than a thousand NEW tanks were made by UVZ per year.
It’s actually just ridiculous. The tank has 2 sides, 12 rollers and 1 turret. Of course, if you number the reactive armor units, then the UVZ will definitely reach the planned mobilization capacity for the production of hundreds of tanks (haha).
If someone does not believe it, the 7183rd Oplot tank will be shown in the photo below.
However, seriously speaking, only the number that is applied to the turret in front or on the upper glacis plate of the hull can be considered the serial number of the tank in the batch.
Production of Т-90М
In 2017-2021, the Russian government signed a contract for the production of 270 tanks Т-90М. The supply of Т-90М in 2021 was 80 units, in 2022 – about 60, making up 140 in total.
At the time of the “gunsmith’s day” in September 2023, they were still working on 192nd Т-90М tank in the workshop. That is, about 52 more tanks have been produced as of September this year.
Someone will say that the above is not true, but there is an objective Russian reality, where any echelon with new tanks is tracked by indifferent citizens all the way from the exit from the workshop and, practically, to the destination itself.
In fact, UVZ does not even cope with the Т-90М contract received in peacetime. All interviews about the increase in production by 300% are nothing more than juggling numbers. Now UVZ no longer resembles a tank factory, but a repair enterprise of the level of the middle Soviet-era plant.
Here we would still go to last year’s 60 tanks per year, because only 3 months are left before the completion of the contract. These are the “grandiose” production rates of the plant created for mass production.
They try to disguise all this shame with all sorts of shoots from different angles, reports from the Zvezda propaganda channel and other information garbage that the Russian citizens so like to consume.
Т-90М in the troops
Given the documented losses of 43 Т-90М tanks, as well as the fact that part of the tanks was damaged or is still under scheduled repair due to the low life of the engine and undercarriage, it turns out that for Т-90М in the war, the role of a picture for the press and testimony to the Minister is more important.
According to my estimates, at the moment, about 60-80 Т-90М remain combat-ready in the Russian army, which does not big deal. The main role is currently played by Т-72, Т-80 tanks and removed from storage of Т-54/55 and Т-62. But you will not see them in reports on TV and in official reports of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
So, what do we have now? As a result, the complete collapse of the myth of UVZ as a powerful plant that is serially capable of producing hundreds of tanks. All tasks of large-scale production failed, tenders for the purchase of a new machine farm failed as well. The only thing that did not fail is shooting around the same tanks for propaganda programs.
Only private companies can do something normally in the Russian Federation, in case, by a magic coincidence, their activities would not be hindered by all sorts of policies, as well as “effective” state corporations.
