Russia Sends T-90MS Tank From Exhibition to Front Line

A T-90MS tank that was on display at Russia’s stand at the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) 2025 in the United Arab Emirates has been deployed to the battlefield.

Defenсe Blog reported the news.

The tank, painted initially in desert camouflage for IDEX 2025, was returned to Russia, repainted in standard army green, and sent into combat, according to Uralvagonzavod.

“The vehicle we first presented abroad was upgraded with the significant experience gained during the special military operation. It was transferred to our troops in almost the same configuration as presented at the exhibition in the UAE. The only change was the color: from the exhibition desert camouflage to standard army green,” the company said.

The T-90MS, developed by Uralvagonzavod, is a modernized export version of the T-90, featuring enhanced protection, improved optics, and increased firepower.

Defense Blog noted that using the same vehicle for both demonstration and combat is unusual in the defense industry, where show models are typically reserved for foreign buyers.

Deploying the “exhibition tank” highlights the shortage of armored vehicles in the Russian army amid continued battlefield losses.

While the number of mechanized assaults has declined, they have not stopped entirely. Many armored vehicles are also being destroyed in rear positions by drones.

According to OSINT analysts, between early March and early September 2025, Russian forces lost 100 tanks and more than 200 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles in the Pokrovsk sector, based on visual confirmation alone.

T-90s Production

In June, analysts from the Conflict Intelligence Team said Russian T-90M production likely far exceeds earlier estimates.

They challenged figures cited by Michael Kofman in The Economist, which suggested Russia built only 28-30 new T-90Ms in 2024, along with about 60 upgraded older models. The group noted that in the 2000s and 2010s, the plant produced up to 140 tanks annually, while also supplying kits for assembly abroad — and that was under peacetime conditions without around-the-clock shifts.

According to CIT’s sources, with the introduction of 24-hour, three-shift operations and extensive overtime, production in 2024 reached about 280 T-90M tanks.