This year, the Army-2022 forum is attended by official delegations and industrial enterprises from over 70 foreign countries, despite US and NATO attempts to isolate Russia in the wake of the latter's special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. The official representative of the forum organizer is the Main Department of Research and Technological Support of Advanced Technologies of the Russian Defense Ministry.
The MoD has put on display both prospective military technologies and time-tested hardware that has already proven its efficiency on the battlefield.
Т-90МS: 'Major Player on the Battlefield'
One of them is the T-90MS main battle tank (MBT), manufactured by the Open Joint Stock Company "Research and Production Corporation Uralvagonzavod," one of the Russian leaders in the high-quality machine-building industry. Equipped with powerful weapon systems and modern automatic fire control systems, the T-90MS at the same time offers comprehensive protection against conventional ammunition, precision-guided weapons, and anti-tank rockets. The T-90MS is an export version of Russia's latest tank, the T-90M "Proryv."
"The T-90M tank was developed for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and has certain differences from the T-90MS tank," explains Ilya Onegov, an Uralvagonzavod specialist. "For example, the T-90M tank is mounted with a remote-controlled 12.7 mm machine gun. The T-90MS tank is equipped with a 7.62 mm machine gun, but it can be supplied with any caliber machine gun."
While both variants of the Russian-made tank use the same platform, the T-90MS tank can be designed for a specific customer with additional features varying depending on the customer's needs, according to Onegov.
The tank's machine gun system is controlled from inside, so there is no need for the operator to get out of the vehicle to shoot. "It's a remote system, controlled with a joystick and through the commander's sight," the Uralvagonzavod specialist says.
According to Onegov, the T-90MS has every feature that modern Western tanks enjoy and is on par with the US M1A2 Abrams and the German Leopard 2. However, the T-90MS is lighter than its Western counterparts, the specialist highlighted.
Танк T-90 "Бхишма" индийской армии
© AP Photo / Altaf Qadri
At the same time, the T-90MS is an upgraded version of the T-90S MBT Bhishma, which is currently in service with India, Onegov elaborated. In February 2001, the Indian Army inked a contract for 310 T-90S tanks. Roughly half of the batch was completed in Russia, and the rest were delivered for final assembly in India. Since then, India has acquired hundreds of Russian tanks while maintaining close military-technical cooperation with the JSC UralVagonZavod.
Over the past decades, foreign buyers have demonstrated a keen interest in acquiring the Russian battle tank and its modifications. In March 2022, Uralvagonzavod presented its Т-90МS “Master of the Desert” tank at the first World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia, according to Rostec. The Russian armored vehicle passed multi-day desert tests and proved to be efficient in high dust conditions.
Msta 2S19M2: Unique Self-Propelled Howitzer
The Msta-S self-propelled howitzer is yet another workhorse of the Russian Armed Forces.
"The Msta-S is a unique self-propelled howitzer," says Aleksey Shchipanov, chief designer of Special Design Bureau "Trnasmash Spetstechnika" (JSC "Uraltransmash"). "It has a high rate of fire, high mode of fire, high degree of engagement and disengagement, and high quality of protection for the crew when handling ammunition."
The 152-mm Msta-S 2S19 was designed to destroy openly located and protected targets, including manpower, armored and unarmored military equipment, field fortifications, air defense and missile defense systems, enemy command posts, and rear facilities. The 2S19M1-155, an improved version of the howitzer, is capable of firing 155-mm NATO-standard projectiles, as well as Krasnopol-M guided projectiles that hit small targets (such as a tank) at a distance of 17 km. For its part, the advanced Msta-S 2S19M2 version has been equipped with a new automatic fire control system which increases the rate of fire.
"This model, the 2S19M2, is the third modification of the Msta," explains Shchipanov. "The 2S19M2 provides a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute. The uniqueness of the Msta 2S19M2 self-propelled howitzer lies in its rate of fire, its maintainability, its ability to conduct a counter-fire strike, its ability to fire all types of ammunition: fragmentation, cluster and including high-precision rounds. The 2S19 self-propelled howitzer has been upgraded to an export-oriented variant for use in hot climates."
The 2S19 "Msta-S" self-propelled howitzer at the 9th International Exhibition of Arms,Military Equipment and Ammunition, held in the city of Nizhny Tagil
© Sputnik / Pavel Lisitsyn
/ The designer pointed out that the Msta's latest modification has passed numerous successful tests, including in India, and has been acknowledged "to be superior in a number of technical characteristics in comparison to the best global counterparts."
Over 300 events within the framework of Russia's Army-2022 expo are being held at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center at Moscow's Kubinka airfield, Alabino training ground, as well as in all the military districts and the Northern Fleet. The week-long event will end on August 21.