Vietnamese troops to master T-90S main battle tanks


The People`s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) has started to master the T-90S main battle tanks (MBTs) that were delivered from Russia in late December, a source from the PAVN told TASS.


Vietnamese troops to master T 90S main battle tanks
T-90S MBT (Picture source: Army Recognition)


"The training units of the PAVN Land Force have already started to master the T-90S main battle tanks. The crew will be trained to drive the tanks and cross rivers with the use of deep water fording kits," said the source.

According to the 2016 annual report of Rostec`s Uralvagonzavod corporation, the manufacturer of the MBTs, a contract with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for 64 T-90S and T-90SK (K for Command, Komandniy) MBTs was signed in 2016. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) is reported to hasve received the first batch of 32 MBTs in late December. The PAVN now operates T-90S, Type 59, T-54/55, T-62, PT-76B, and even T-34/85 tanks.

According to the UVZ, the T-90S MBT has a combat weight of 46.5 (+ 2%) t, a crew of three servicemen, an average unsurfaced road speed of 35-40 km/h, a top speed of 60 km/h, a power-to-weight ratio of 21.5 h.p./t, and a range of 550 km. The MBT is armed with a 2A46M 125 mm smoothbore dual-axis stabilized gun (an ammunition load of 42 rounds), a 7.62 mm coaxial machinegun (an ammunition load of 2,000 cartridges), and an anti-aircraft 12.7 mm heavy machinegun (an ammunition load of 300 cartridges). The tank`s guided missile system has a firing range of 100-5,000 m. The MBT can cross a ditch of 2.6-2.8 m, a wall of 0.85 m, and a water obstacle with a depth of up to 1.2 m.