One major issue is the ammunition carousel design, which stores rounds and crew alongside each other. This makes it vulnerable to cooking off, where unexploded rounds detonate later, causing catastrophic damage. While the T90M has made some improvements, it still has the same design flaw. Other countries, like the Soviet Union, have solved this problem by moving the ammunition carousel outside the crew compartment.

Another significant limitation is the T90M’s slow reverse speed, just 4 kilometers per hour, making it difficult to withdraw or move to a safer position in a fight. This design flaw is also present in the T72 and T80 tanks. In contrast, the US M1 Abrams can achieve 40 kilometers per hour in reverse.

The T90M’s two-piece ammunition design, which requires it to be loaded in two separate pieces, also limits the length and effectiveness of the rounds it can fire. This is a problem, as anti-tank rounds and tank armor have continued to advance, making this limitation increasingly significant.

Russia’s lack of hard-kill active protection systems and its limited investment in tank design and development are also contributing factors to the T90M’s poor performance. The country’s military, like many others, has struggled with logistics, training, and command issues, which can compromise the effectiveness of even the best-designed tanks.

Lastly, the widespread use of drones and asymmetrical tactics has forced tank designers to rethink their conventional thinking. This has put tanks in situations they weren’t originally designed to handle, making their performance more predictable.