In Russia, the Omsktransmash tank plant, the only enterprise specializing in restoring and modernizing T-80 tanks, is on fire.

Local media published footage of the fire.

At around 12:00 a.m. local time, one of the production shops at the JSC Omsk Transport Machine Factory Omsktransmash was on fire. Local residents reported a large column of smoke visible throughout the city.

“A localized fire of roofing material occurred on the territory of the enterprise during the repair. This incident will not affect production processes. No one was injured,” the company said, confirming the fire.

Firefighters managed to localize the fire around 3:00 p.m. According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, the open fire was extinguished at 3:22 p.m.

Based on photos and videos taken by local residents, Militarnyi managed to geolocate the fire source. It turned out to be one of the company’s production shops.

Satellite images of this building show tank hulls brought from the sumps, most likely of the T-80B series, which Omsktransmash specializes in.

Formerly a powerful Soviet-era tank-building enterprise, today, Omsktransmash has lost some of its competencies and is currently overhauling and modernizing tanks and producing TOS-1A Solntsepyok flamethrower systems.

Restoration of Omsktransmash

Last September, Militarnyi reported that the Russian concern Uralvagonzavod is working on setting up production of Soviet Т-80 series tanks from scratch.

The production is planned to be established on the basis of the Omsktransmash armored plant, which in Soviet times manufactured tanks of the Т-80 series. Since 2017, the company has been overhauling tanks returned from storage bases and upgrading them to the Т-80BVM version.

In particular, at the beginning of the year, it was reported that the Omsk plant had shipped another batch of modernized T-80BVM tanks as part of a state order from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Subsequently, in September 2023, Russia initiated the resumption of production at the Kaluga Engine Plant of GTD-1250 gas turbine engines used in these tanks.

The start of orders for engine repairs for the modernized T-80BVM allowed the company to partially upgrade and establish production of the necessary components. Nevertheless, as of last year, a lot of manual labor was involved in production, and the output of new products was piecemeal.