New photos of Russian T-90 tanks that helped turn the tide at Aleppo

Some new photos have appeared of Russian T-90 tanks which helped the Syrian Arab Army turn back the Islamist onslaught and liberate Aleppo.

The photos, which appear to show up to a dozen T-90s parked together, were reported by Southfront.

The T-90 is one of Russia’s most advanced tanks, especially in its modernized variant the T-90A.

The 125mm smoothbore main gun is capable of firing a wide variety of the most modern ammunition, including armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot(APFSDS), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT-FS), and high explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG) ammunition, and 9M119M Refleks anti-tank guided missiles.

Secondary armament includes a 12.7mm anti-aircraft gun with 300 rounds and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun with up to 7,000 rounds.

The T-90 is equipped with advanced composite and Kontakt-5 explosive-reactive armor designed to defeat shells fired by NATO’s M1A2 Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks. It is also fitted with nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) battlefield capable, and has an automatic fire suppression system. The tank can also be equipped with the EMT-7electromagnetic-counter mine system.

The advanced fire control system can reliably hit targets up to 5 km distant with the tank moving at a speed of 30 kph.

Most T-90s are fitted with the B-92C (V-92S) diesel engine generating around 1,000 hp, propelling the tank at 60 kph on road and 45 kph on rough terrain.

Russia first deployed the T-90 to Syria in 2015 to protect its own air forces. In February 2016 the tank entered combat on the side of the Syrian army near Aleppo.