Bhishma (Tank T-90) during the full dress rehearsal for Republic Day parade 2025, at Kartavya Path in New Delhi on Thursday. | ANI
Indian Army’s T-90 Bhishma Main Battle Tanks showed their might on Kartavya Path in New Delhi during Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2025, the 76th Republic Day. The term ‘main battle tank’ in itself is enough to know how important Bhishma tanks are for India. President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi were given a salute by the tanks leading the mechanised column. The tanks were led by Cpatain Navjot Singh Atwal from 74th Armoured Regiment.
Here is what you need to know about T-90 Bhishma tanks:
What Is T-90 Bhishma tank?
It is Indian version of Russian T-90 tanks. These tanks have been tailored as per India’s military requirement.
Prior to modifications in India, the T-90 tanks were purchased from Russia. Indian Army preferred T-90 due to their similarity with T-72 tanks. In fact, it is a direct successor of T-72 tanks the parts of which were already being manufactured in India.
Similarity with T-72 meant that it was easy to modify T-90 to suit Indian needs and also for easier training of troops to operate T-90.
T-90 Bhishma Tank Firepower
The formidable Bhishma tanks pack a lethal punch. It can fire barrel-launched Refleks anti-tank guided missiles and APFSDS (armour piercing fin stabilized discarding sabot missiles.
The tank is capable of firing more types of armaments
These are: high explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG) and high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT-FS) rounds and also guided anti-tank missiles.
T-90 Bhishma: Important Stats
Weight: 46 to 48 tonnes depending on the variant.
Crew: 3
Armour: Steel-composite-reactive blend APFSDS
Main Armament: 2A46M-5 125 mm smoothbore gun (T-90M)
2A46M-2 125 mm smoothbore gun (T-90A)
2A46M 125 mm smoothbore gun (T-90)
Secondary weapons: 12.7mm Kord Heavy machine gun, 7.62mm PKMT
Power: 18.2 hp/tonne (13.3 kW/tonne) (T-90)
21.5hp/tonne (15 kW/tonne) (T-90A)
