Russia's main battle tank T-90M "Proryv" is the best in the world by the "price/quality" criterion, and its fate was directly influenced by the export contract with India. This opinion was voiced by military expert Yuriy Knutov.
He recalled that the T-90 became a deep modernization of the T-72 tank. In the 1990s, the project was developed with considerable difficulty, but then Russia signed a contract to supply these combat vehicles to India.
The products went for export, India developed its own modification based on our tank. The T-90 became a new-generation tank, and the latest modification, "Proryv," with active explosive reactive armor makes the vehicle the best in the world in terms of the "price/quality" ratio.
Knutov added that the T-90M "Proryv" solves tasks on the battlefield that Western Abrams and Leopard tanks are incapable of handling.
In 2001, Russia and India signed the first major contract for the supply of 310 T-90S tanks, and in 2006 they signed an agreement on the licensed assembly of 1,000 vehicles of this type. It was these historic contracts that provided a significant economic incentive to continue production of the vehicle at Uralvagonzavod.
Research fellow at the Central Economic and Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ivan Grachyov noted that the Russian Federation earned $6 billion from supplies of T-90S tanks to India over the entire period of cooperation.