Russia’s most modern tank has been seen suffering from a “disco head” failure which causes its turrets to spin out of control while on the battlefield under fire.
The rare failure has affected the T-90 tank, a third-generation Russian main battle vehicle that has been called by Russian President Vladimir Putin the “best tank in the world.”
But the impressive machine has suffered an embarrassing bug, “spinning turret syndrome”, in which any minor damage causes the turret to begin spinning uncontrollably, leaving it unable to continue fighting.
The worst example of the failure came during a battle in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, when Ukrainian troops in two U.S.-supplied M2 Bradley fighting vehicles came face-to-face with one of the Russian T-90s.
The Bradleys hit the Russian tank with rapid 25mm cannon fire that was expected to cause little damage to the T-90s due to their heavy frontal armor.
The Russian T-90 tank was seen spinning out of control due to an error called “spinning turret syndrome.”
Ukrainian troops in two US-supplied M2 Bradley fighting vehicles came face to face with one of the Russian T-90s (pictured) before it failed.
Other footage captured the moment another T-90 began spinning out of control.
The machine collided with a tree, which stopped rotation.
However, after a few shots, the tank’s turret began to rotate rapidly clockwise, meaning that the Russians had no chance of accurately returning fire.
In footage of the humiliating incident, the turret is seen spinning frantically with no end in sight until the gun barrel finally crashed into a tree, stopping the spin.
Unable to return fire at the Ukrainians, the tank crew fled on foot before the tank was demolished by a Ukrainian first-person view attack drone.
‘Rotating turret syndrome’ was also observed on another occasion on 10 May after a T-90 was attacked by a series of FPV kamikazes.
When the second hits, the turret begins to rotate clockwise before stopping briefly as the crew attempts to control it.
But in vain, the rotation starts again and continues until the tank stops and the engine seems to be off.
In recent weeks, several abandoned T-90Ms have been destroyed by grenades launched from Ukrainian drones.
One theory behind the mysterious failure is that minor impacts penetrate the turret and kill or injure the operator, who then ends up collapsing over the controls.
This theory says that the position of the levers to control the turret means that someone jumping on them always causes a clockwise rotation.
A second theory shared online is that the problem is related to the first control system.
The impressive T-90 has suffered an embarrassing bug where any minor damage causes the turret to begin spinning uncontrollably, leaving it unable to continue fighting.
One theory behind the mysterious failure is that minor impacts penetrate the turret and kill or injure the operator, who then ends up collapsing over the controls.
The T-90 tank is a third-generation Russian main battle vehicle that has been called the “best tank in the world” by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Like other modern tanks, the T-90’s gun has an automatic aiming mechanism that rotates the turret to keep the gun pointed at a target.
The theory suggests that damage to the optics sends a false signal to the fire control system, causing the turret to spin uncontrollably.
A third explanation revolves around the tank’s defensive assembly, as the tank has a laser warning receiver that sounds an alarm when the tank is illuminated by a laser on the battlefield.
In addition to the alarm, the system automatically rotates the turret so the weapon faces the threat and fires special flares to confuse the laser guidance.
But since the sensors are external, any incoming damage can cause a false signal that causes the turrets to rotate.
Hamish de Bretton-Gordan, former British Army tank commander, said The TelegraphHowever, the problem probably lies with inexperienced crews and poor electronics.
He added: “It’s very easy for inexperienced people to get very disoriented in a tank because the hull of a tank can be moving in one direction, the turret can be in another direction and the commander’s view can be in a completely different direction, so It gets the term “club head” because people can easily become disoriented and the tank spins out of control.
‘It could also be an electronic fault. “Western tanks have a pretty sophisticated fire control system and the Russians don’t seem to have gotten it right.”