[CaptainCrunch]

Originally posted by peter12+Nov 10 2004, 01:56 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (peter12 @ Nov 10 2004, 01:56 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Looks right to me. The mines exploded under the tank. Defeated the bottom armour, over pressured through the crew compartment and launched the turret.

I heard the new Russian T-90 took the crown for most protected tank. [/b][/quote]
I don't believe that the T-90 is any better armoured than the M1A2, I think when they talk about defense they're talking about the Shtora-1 self defense system which is an advanced infrared jamming system which makes it tough to target by conventional means, a laser proximity warning system and a grenade launching system to make an opaque smoke system.

Whats really unique about this tank is that it has a huge 125 mm gun coupled with the ability to gun launch the 9m119 relek antitank rocket which was designed to defeat the reactive armour on the M1a2

The T-90 still has several key problems.

they still use the auto loader as oppossed to the American use of a person as a loader. The auto loader is still slow and it can jam the gun

Its cross country speed is 45 KM/h which is markedly slower than the M1, and the Isreali Merkova (sp?) tank

The other problem is the fact that the fuel line for field fueling traverses around the turret mating collar which means that a hit around the turret will guarantee a dead tank.

The T-90 was suppossed to be a stop gap tank while the Russians produced the Nizhny Tagil which has been delayed by budget issues. The Tagil had a 152 mm main gun which is the most powerful tank cannon ever made. It was suppossed to be nearly impervious to any battlefield weapon on the first hit . One unique design of this tank is that the gun turret is unmanned and not accessable by the crew.

It was going to be designated as the T-95

The Russians hope that the T-95 will revolutionize the science of tanks like the T-34 did in WWII