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What's the Purpose of Combining T-90 Turret With T-80 Chassis and What Kind of Trend in russia It Reveals

The russian tank hybrid with a T-80BVK hull and T-90A turret / Photo source: btvt_2019
The russian tank hybrid with a T-80BVK hull and T-90A turret / Photo source: btvt_2019
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russians made an interesting hybrid combat vehicle that speaks of certain issues with equipment supply in the russian army

Quite an interesting armored combat unit has emerged on Ukrainian frontlines in the hands of the russian invasion forces. The soldiers attached a turret stripped from a T-90A main battle tank to the body of a T-80BVK. The protection of the resulting vehicle was reinforced with robust screens and explosive reactive armor tiles.

Several photos of this unique hybrid of two tanks were published by the btvt_2019 community, the time and place where the photographs were taken are not specified.

The russian tank hybrid with a T-80BVK hull and T-90A turret / Defense Express / What's the Purpose of Combining T-90 Turret With T-80 Chassis and Which Trend in russia It Reveals
The russian tank hybrid with a T-80BVK hull and T-90A turret / Photo source: btvt_2019

What's particularly notable about this episode is that it's illustrative of the improvised solutions employed by russian forces. Specifically, to get around the limitations associated with restoring equipment damaged in battle and / or restocked from long-term mothballing: they simply blend elements of two remotely similar armored units. The result is usually a vehicle with questionable performance characteristics, and repairing it is a puzzle for any field technician, yet it's capable of performing basic tasks to accomplish a mission.

For another example, there was a case from September 2024, also pointed out by btvt_2019, where a russian repair team assembled a new combat-capable tank using two damaged T-90s. One had only the chassis remaining functional, while the other just the turret. The whole process was filmed by a russian military blogger. The author of the footage said this operation was carried out right in the open, using the available field repair equipment.

russians mount a turret from a damaged T-90 on the chassis from another surviving tank of the type, September 2024 / Defense Express / What's the Purpose of Combining T-90 Turret With T-80 Chassis and Which Trend in russia It Reveals
russians mount a turret from a damaged T-90 on the chassis from another surviving tank of the type, September 2024 / Still frame of the video from social networks

The very idea of putting a turret from one tank on the chassis of another is not a know-how in itself. In January 2024, for instance, India "retrofitted" the T-72 tank by integrating a T-90 turret, to get a vehicle with impaired mobility yet increased firepower, situational awareness, and protection. The hybrid was named Atharva, the main problem was that while the weight grew to a total of 45.8 tons, 2 tons up from the standard T-72, the developers kept the same power plant which struggled to tow a heavier vehicle, especially in rough terrain.

The Atharva, Indian hybrid of a T-72 and a T-90, January 2023 / Defense Express / What's the Purpose of Combining T-90 Turret With T-80 Chassis and Which Trend in russia It Reveals
The Atharva, Indian hybrid of a T-72 and a T-90, January 2023 / Open-source image

But as far as russian T-80s are concerned, we should recall the episode from January 2024, when the russians mounted RBU-6000 naval rocket launchers on the chassis of this tank. These improvised MLR systems had objective drawbacks but they were at least functional.

russian T-80s with RBU-6000 rocket launchers / Defense Express / What's the Purpose of Combining T-90 Turret With T-80 Chassis and Which Trend in russia It Reveals
russian T-80s with RBU-6000 rocket launchers / Photo source: btvt_2019

Similarly to our current case, the main driving force of such modifications was most likely the dysfunctional armament on the T-80 tanks that one way or another happened to be available at their disposal.

This brings us to the observed systematic problems encountered by russia when putting mothballed T-80 tanks back to service. Issues with armament systems topped the list of malfunctions recorded during the inspection of the tanks retrieved from long-term storage.

Read more: Satellite Image Shows BRDM-2 Vehicles Removed From Storage in russia, Some Repaired in the Far East