Do Vietnamese T-90S tanks have a chance of being equipped with Armata explosive reactive armor?

Currently, Russian main battle tanks often use the early version of Kontakt 1 explosive reactive armor, which consists of 4S20 explosive blocks in a brick-like pattern, layered around the hull and turret.

In the Kontakt 5 and Relikt armor generations, the 4S22 and 4S23 explosive charges were positioned at an angle to protect against kinetic energy penetrator rounds as well as two-stage shaped charge penetrator rounds.

However, due to the use of a rather powerful "outward-facing" explosive effect, these explosive charges could cause serious casualties to infantry supporting tanks and armored vehicles, leading to the need for further improvements.

To meet urgent demands, Russia has equipped the T-14 tank and the T-15 Armata infantry fighting vehicle with reactive armor featuring the latest generation 4S24 explosive charges arranged in a tile-like pattern to protect against armor-piercing rounds fired horizontally at the hull.

This type of explosive produces less shrapnel and shock waves, thus greatly reducing the risk of casualties among soldiers and minimizing damage to vehicles and equipment.

More specifically, Russia recently announced a new explosive reactive armor configuration for the export version of the T-90S/SK main battle tank, incorporating these 4S24 explosive blocks into the side armor in a tiled pattern.

Previously, the sides were considered the biggest weakness of the T-90 tank, as they were only fitted with skirts made of rubber sheets and reinforced with three armor plates in the critical front hull area. Some versions, such as the Iraqi version, reinforced the side armor similarly to the 2016 T-72B3 with Relikt armor, but it was still limited.

Now, with the new side armor configuration introduced by Russia, it can be said that the T-90 tank's previously considered "fatal" weakness has been almost completely overcome.

Another noteworthy point is that Russia has stated it is ready to immediately integrate this latest generation of explosive reactive armor into the T-90S/SK or T-90M export versions of its tanks.

Currently, Russia is fulfilling two contracts to supply T-90 tanks to Iraq and Vietnam. Iraq has already received its first shipments, while we have yet to receive any T-90s.

Because integrating the 4S24 armor is very easy due to the modular structure of these explosive blocks, Russia can equip the tanks immediately upon request from partners. This opens up the hope that Vietnam's T-90s will have superior defensive capabilities compared to their basic configuration.