[Gorshkov]

Originally Posted by dejawolf

newest T-90AM with welded turret is listed as having RHAe in excess of 850mm vs KE. T-90A should have similar protection.

Maybe in your imagination, right? All those ridiculous Russian T-72/80/90 tanks armor estimates are false because they add ERA protection to basic armor thickness as some additional RHA armor equivalent. That is now fundamentally wrong because:

- those ERA are useless against tandem HEAT warheads
- those ERA are also useless against modern Western APFSDS rounds

So now Russian T-xx tanks have to rely on their too weak basic armor having about 550 mm RHAe thickness. Nothing can be done to improve this because their turrets reached maximum allowable weight limit and further increasings of its frontal armor weight would cause "barrel hits ground" scenario. Thus Russian T-xx tanks can be frontally massacred by today's Western APFSDS rounds and ATGMs. Those T-90A frontal armor values (850 mm vs APFSDS and 1300 mm vs HEAT) are only true for 20-30 years old anti-tank munition. Now ERA you can see on Russian tanks is pure virtual reality because it does not exist in practical terms!

Originally Posted by dejawolf

so frontally, the M1A2 SEP has an advantage over the T-90.

Not "advantage" but unconditional superiority if you take into account entire "armor+ammunition" comparison.

Originally Posted by dejawolf

it has a much improved FCS however, with thermals, different levels of magnification, and dynamic lead.

ROTFL! T-90 has 25 years old 1A45 FCS robbed from T-80U tanks. Latest T-90 incarnations also have imported/license built French I generation thermal sights - not even close in quality to latest III generation thermal stuff with electronic zoom, auto-tracker etc. present in for instance M1A2SEP v.2 and Merkava IV tanks.

Originally Posted by dejawolf

it also has LWR, or laser warning receiver, something the abrams lacks.

This old LWR is part of ancient "Shtora" EOCMDAS - now useless because LWR cannot detect today's Western lasers working on different wavelengths than 1980s vintage Western lasers. Maybe Russian should import new Ukrainian "Varta" EOCMDAS to fix this issue.

BTW Abrams can be equipped with a bit similar MCD system.

Originally Posted by dejawolf

the T-90 can also deploy IR-obscuring smoke.

Only theoretically, but in practice it cannot having blind sensors.

Originally Posted by dejawolf

the abrams does have an edge, but in the end, it all comes down to tactics. neutralizing your opponents advantages, by using the terrain that best favours your tank.

Pure BS! Russian Army has nothing like net-centric battle management environment, UAVs and similar reconnaissance stuff the US Army is full of. So old-fashioned tactics like terrain cover is now useless because US Army could detect and target Russian Army tanks from stand-off distances by aerial and artillery means. Also American tanks would have gigantic advantage fighting practically blind Russian armored formations with help of FBCB2, BFT, FTL systems. In 2012 those two armies are armies from two different technological eras...