New Sovietskiy T-90UM1 Main Battle Tank:


The most powerful 125 mm armed Main Battle Tank that served in the Soviet Forces and was retained in the New Soviet military in secondary roles late into the Twenty First Century and many were still in storage when the Rifts came. The design was designed as a replacement for the T-80 Main Battle Tank but never was produced in the large numbers of the older tank. The T-90 incorporate some features of the older T-72 tank and the T-90 used a diesel engine initially instead of a gas turbine although later upgraded with a gas turbine engine. The tank was exported to India. The T-90U was an updated version of the T-90 and is lengthened, uses a gas turbine engine, and carried improved electronics. The T-90U was designed with lessons learned from the various border classes during the Russian experiment in democracy and has many improvements over the original T-90 tank. The design was upgraded in the same fashion as the T-80 during the Mega-Damage revolution and had many of the same disagreement by personnel as the upgraded T-80 tank.


The T-90U tanks formed the spearheads of the Russian forces during the Russian-Ukraine war of 2012. There were many events happening around the same time as the War between Russia and Ukraine such as a brief war between the United States and India. Because of this, the Americans and Europe did not interfere with what was then considered internal Russian politics. Interesting was the fact that the Indian T-90 tanks did not do well against the American upgraded M1 Abrams battle tanks. The new T-212 was still under development and was not ready for service until several years later and the battle was fought with the T-90U tank in the forefront. Many Western political analysts considered this to be the start of the reformation of the Soviet Union. As time when on, many of the former Soviet rejoined Russia. In 2027, Russia becomes the Soviet Union once again and once again goes to a communist style government.


There are unconfirmed rumors that there was a series of brief border classes with China in Mongolia. There was no declared war and it is believed that the fighting was started because China wanted to annex Mongolia. Russian units equipped with the T-90U main battle tank operated in Mongolia although officially no fighting took place. Chinese tanks were seen operating in Northern China at the same time.


The T-90UM1 was the Mega-Damage version of the T-90U tank with Mega-Damage alloys and composites replacing the original armor. Like the upgraded T-80 main battle tank, it has many detractors. The tank was much higher maintenance than an all new tank would be. As a result, most crews and officers did not like the tank although many politicians only saw the number of tanks. Originally, a 7.62 machine-gun was mounted coaxial and a remote controlled 12.7 mm machine-gun were mounted above the turret. Even with better ammunition types, the mounts were considered ineffective. The top mounted machine-gun was replaced by am automatic grenade launcher as a partial solution and many crews greatly preferred the weapon. Later the secondary weapons were replaced by rail guns but many crews still preferred the grenade launchers.


The tank was retained through the "New Cold War" to bolster the number of soviet tanks but due to repair parts many were immobile and many tanks were cannibalized to keep others operational. As time went on and more new tanks were available, the upgraded T-90U was exported to other nations. A few of these survived the coming of the Rifts along with a small number with the New Sovietsky. Remaining tanks have been heavily modified with their crews including the replacement of the old weapons with energy weapons and new engines replacing the old power plants. Still, it is likely that the remaining upgraded T-90U tanks will be taken out of service before too many more years go by.


Model Type: T-90UM1
Vehicle Type: Main Battle Tank
Crew: Three (Driver, Gunner, and Commander).


M.D.C. by Location:

[1] Tractor Treads (2):100 each
Weapons Turret:180
125 mm smooth-bore gun:75
[2] Automatic Grenade Launcher (Replaces Heavy Machine-gun):40
[2] 10 mm Heavy Railgun (Replaces Heavy Machine-gun):50
[2] 7.62 Machine Guns (Early Model):10
[2] 5 mm Co-axial Railgun (Replaces Medium Machine-gun):25
Multi-Option Jammers (2):25
[3] Main Body:350


Notes:
[1] Depleting the M.D.C. of a tread will immobilize the tank until it is replaced. Replacing a tread will take 1D6x10 minutes by a trained crew (2 replacements are carried on board) or three times as long by the inexperienced. Changing the tread is only advisable when the vehicle is not under attack.
[2] These are small and difficult targets to strike, requiring the attacker to make a “called shot,” but even then the attacker is -4 to strike.
[3] If all the M.D.C. of the main body is depleted, the vehicle is completely shut down and is unsalvageable.


Speed:
Ground: 55.9 mph (90 kph) maximum road speed; 43.5 mph (70 kph) off-road. The vehicle is designed to traverse virtually all terrain and can climb at up to a 60% grade although at a much slower speed (About 10% of maximum road speed). It can also climb barriers and ford trenches. The vehicle can also handle side slopes of up to 30%.
Underwater: Can be equipped with snorkel to run underwater down to 16.4 feet (5.0 meters)
Maximum Range: 435.0 miles (700 km) plus up to 155 miles (250 km) more with a large strap-on rear fuel tank that is ejected before going into battle.


Statistical Data:
Height: 7.2 feet (2.225 meters) to top of commander's cupola.
Width: 12.4 feet (3.78 meters)
Length: 35.7 feet (10.875 meters) including gun barrel.
Weight: 60.4 tons (54.8 metric tons).
Power Source: Gas Turbine Engine.
Cargo Capacity: Minimal, enough for equipment with crew
Black Market Cost: 3 million credits to build, usually double that today to buy one. If fitted, any extra weapon systems will add to the cost of the tank; T-90s are usually found very heavily modified, though they are getting to be quite uncommon. Tank crews often personalize them with their pay in the armies of the assorted warlords and other nations are considerably different from these Soviet-Era specifications. T-90UM1s (Normally simply called "T-90s") still in the service of the New Sovietskiy, however, follow these specifications to the letter.


Weapon Systems:

  1. 125 mm Smooth Bore Cannon/Missile Launcher: Mounted in the turret. The T-90UM1 enjoys a +2 to strike for the main gun using the laser targeting sight (not for the ATGMs). The T-90UM1 can also fire the AT-20 ATGW through the 125-mm gun; Truly a multi-purpose weapon that is considerably effective against enemy armor and robots alike. Plasma rounds are a late pre-Rifts innovation and are rare and expensive.
    Maximum Effective Range: Direct fire range is 6,561 feet (2,000 meters). Has a quadrant site that allows the Sabot (APSD) rounds to be fired indirectly out to 30,839 feet (9,400 meters). Range for missiles varies with short range missile type; Usually AP rounds are carried (See revised bomb and missile tables for details.)
    Mega-Damage: (HE): 1D6x10 with a blast radius of 20 ft. (HEAT): 2D6x10, blast radius of 10 ft. (AP): 2D4x10+10. (APSD): 3D4x10. (PLASMA): 4D4x10+5, blast radius of 20 ft. Mega-Damage for missiles is as per short missile type; almost always Armor Piercing (See revised bomb and missile tables for details.)
    Rate of Fire: Twice per melee.
    Payload: 50 gun rounds; Usually 11 HE, 11 HEAT, 11 AP, 11 APSD, and 6 Plasma. 5 HE, 5 HEAT, 5 AP, 5 APSD, and 3 Plasma are stored in the carrousel; The next twenty eight rounds (including missiles) require two and a half minutes (Ten melee rounds) by an untrained crew to load into the carrousel, and 90 seconds (Six melee rounds) by a trained crew. The remaining four rounds for a second reloading can be done in two melee rounds for an untrained crew and one for a trained crew. An additional round can be stored, ready to fire, in the main gun. If they are available, this is usually a plasma round so that the tank can deal with a surprise attack of any type. With the exception of the New Sovietskiy, most powers in Russia have extremely limited supplies of Plasma rounds; Substitute them for one more each of the other types of rounds, and if a round is carried in the barrel, it will probably be HEAT. Ten AT-20 ATGWs; These are essentially a surface to surface version of the standard Rifts short range missile. Armor piercing versions are standard, though plasma and even fusion versions were made. Five are stored in the carrousel; The other five can be counted in the reload times for the carrousel above.
    Bonuses: +2 to strike at all times with cannon shells from the laser sight; No penalties to fire when the vehicle is moving. APSD shells have a +4 bonus for long range fire from the Quadrant sight, but only when the vehicle is not moving. No Bonuses for firing the AT-20s.
  2. Top Weapon Mount (1): The tank has a spindle to mount a weapon on the top of the turret which is normally controlled by the commander of the tank. The weapon is designed for use against troops assaulting the tank and against aircraft. Originally the weapon carried was the 12.7 millimeter NSV Machine-gun but the weapon was replaced by a variety of different weapons. The grenade launcher was the favorite replacement weapon by many vehicle crews.
    1. 12.7 millimeter NSV Machine-gun: While the Soviet military was able to replace the armor of the tank with stronger materials, initially there were no suitable weapons developed for the tank. The best that could be done was to develop new ammunition for the standard machine-gun. The weapon was soon found to be ineffective and was replaced by more powerful weapons.
      Maximum Effective Range: 3,000 feet (914.4 meters)
      Mega-Damage: Single shot does 1D4 and 40 round burst does 5D6.
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner (commander).
      Payload: 400 rounds (10 bursts).
    2. ATR-50 Automatic Grenade Launcher: Weapon is very similar to the WI-GL21 Automatic Grenade Launcher produced by Wellington Industries and the American Automatic Grenade Launcher operated around the same time but uses a larger grenade and is heavier in design. Weapon was used in vehicles as well as being used in tripod mounts and used by power armors. Weapon can fire single shot or bursts of ten rounds and can inflict heavy damage when burst fired. Unlike the American design, the Soviet automatic grenade launcher only used belts. The tank normally mounted two belts together to increase number of rounds to 400 rounds. It is believed that the Soviets tank crews saw the effectiveness of the M1A5 equipped with this weapon so they decide to replace their heavy machine-gun with this weapon. This mount was never officially mounted on the tank but was very common none-the-less. This weapon remained very popular with tank crews and was not replaced in many of the tanks which carried it. Officially, all mounts were suppose to be replaced by the 10 mm Railgun.
      Maximum Effective Range: 3,000 feet (914 meters)
      Mega-Damage: 3D6 for Fragmentation with a blast area of 12 ft and 5D6 for Armor Piercing with a blast area of 3 ft, burst of 10 rounds does 2D4x10 for Fragmentation with a blast area of 40 ft and 2D6x10 for Armor Piercing with a blast area of 8 ft. Other special rounds are available.
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner (commander) - Single Shot or Ten round bursts.
      Payload: 400 Round Double Belt.
    3. 10 millimeter GSR-10 Heavy Railgun: The Soviet military was unable to make an effective liquid propellant weapon and instead developed, some say stole, a rail gun design for their existing vehicles. It replaced the 12.7 mm machine-gun in most vehicles although some with the grenade launcher retained that weapon instead. The mount was redesigned so that it can be controlled from within the turret.
      Maximum Effective Range: 4,920 feet (1,500 meters)
      Mega Damage: Single shot does 2D4 and 20 round burst does 1D6x10+10
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner
      Payload: 1200 rounds (60 bursts).
  3. Light Secondary Mount (1): Weapon is Co-axially mounted with the main gun. The original 7.62 long Russian round, while longer and more powerful than the standard Soviet 7.62 Kalishikov round was still considered under powered by most crews. Several officers attempted to convince the government to mount a 14.5 mm heavy machine but the heavy weapon was not adopted. Eventually, the weapon was replaced by a medium rail gun but many crews still preferred a heavy rail gun.
    1. 7.62 mm PKT Medium Machine-guns (1): Carried on the original T-80 Tank and while underpowered was not replaced until a 5 mm rail gun was developed in the second half of the Twenty First century. The American Abrams quickly replaced their medium machine-guns with liquid propellant weapons. While special ammunition was developed, the crews of the tanks still greatly disliked this weapon.
      Maximum Effective Range: 2,000 feet (609.6 meters)
      Mega Damage: One round does 1 M.D.C. to M.D.C. targets or 3D6x10 S.D.C. to soft targets. Twenty round bursts do 2D4 M.D.C.
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner
      Payload: Carries 12,500 rounds for the Coaxial mount
    2. 5 millimeter GSR-05 Medium Railgun: Finally developed as a replacement for the medium machine-gun. It was much preferred by tank crews but was still considered underpowered compared to other tank mounts.
      Maximum Effective Range: 2,000 feet (609.6 meters)
      Mega Damage: One round does 1D4 M.D.C. to M.D.C. targets or 6D6x10 S.D.C. to soft targets. Twenty round bursts do 4D6 M.D.C.; Forty round full bursts do 1D4x10
      Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner
      Payload: Carries 4,000 rounds total (100 full bursts or 200 half-bursts)
  4. Multi-Option “Shtora-8A” Jammers (2): These are multi-purpose jamming devices designed to stop incoming missiles and confuse an enemy targeting the T-90UM1
    Effect: Each firing launches two Chaff rockets, two Flare rockets, and the tank begins emitting a large cloud of smoke, both standard and Anti-Laser Prismatic Aerosol; The Chaff rockets detonate and spread Chaff over the area, the flare rockets floating down by parachute; Effects last for one minute (4 Melee rounds.) The Chaff rockets have a 20% chance of interfering with the course of enemy missiles each (40%, total) that are radar guided so that they miss the tank. The flares have the same percentages, except with IR-guided missiles. The Anti-Laser prismatic aerosol reduces damage by half for any laser beam striking the tank (With the exception of X-ray lasers but not variable frequency lasers; X-Ray lasers suffer no damage modifiers, and variable frequency lasers simply cannot compensate for the variables involved), and adds a +4 difficulty to targeting the tank with a laser guidance system or visually.
    Rate of Fire: Usually once every four melee rounds; Effects are not cumulative.
    Maximum Effective Range: Around the tank only; Rough distance of 80 ft (24 m) around tank.
    Payload: Sufficient for twenty firings; One of each type of jamming option from each side of the vehicle.


Sensors:

Special Notes:


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Initial Writeup by Marina O'Leary (LusankyaN@aol.com ).


Reformatted and Rewritten by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).


Copyright © 2000, 2002, & 2009, Kitsune & Marina O'Leary. All rights reserved.


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