Russia‘s most modern tank has been seen suffering a ‘disco head’ glitch that sends its turrets spinning out of control while on the battlefield under fire.
The bizarre fault has struck the T-90 tank – a third-generation Russian main battle vehicle that has been dubbed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the ‘best tank in the world.’
But the impressive machine has been hit with an embarrassing bug, ‘spinning turret syndrome’, where any minor damage causes the turret to begin rotating uncontrollably, making it incapable of any further combat.
The worst example of the flaw came during a battle in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region when Ukrainian troops in two US-supplied M2 Bradley fighting vehicles came face-to-face with one of the Russian T-90s.
The Bradley’s hit the Russian tank with rapid 25mm cannon fire which was expected to cause little damage to the T-90s due to their heavy frontal armour.
The Russian T-90 tank was seen spinning out of control due to a bug dubbed ‘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 malfunctioned
Another piece of footage captured the moment another T-90 began spinning out of control
The machine crashed into a tree which stopped the rotating
However, after a few hots the tank’s turret started rapidly spinning in a clockwise direction meaning the Russian’s had no chance of accurately returning fire.
In footage of the humiliating incident, the turret was seen rotating in a frenzy without any end in sight until the gun barrel ultimately slammed into a tree which stopped the spinning.
Unable to return any fire to the Ukrainian’s, the tank’s crew fled on foot before the tank was demolished by a Ukrainian first-person view attack drone.
The ‘spinning turret syndrome’ was also seen on another occasion on May 10 after a T-90 came under attack by a series of FPV kamikazes.
When the second one hits, the turret begins spinning clockwise before pausing briefly as the crew attempt to get it under control.
But to no avail, the rotating starts again and continues until the tank halts and the engine appears to be switched off.
In recent weeks, several abandoned T-90Ms have been destroyed by grenades dropped from Ukrainian drones.
One theory behind the mysterious flaw is that minor hits are penetrating the turret and killing or injuring an operator who then ends up slumping forward over the controls.
This theory says the position of the levers to control the turret mean that someone pitching on to them always causes clockwise rotation.
A second theory shared online is that the issue is related to the first control system.
The impressive T-90 has been hit with an embarrassing bug where any minor damage causes the turret to begin rotating uncontrollably, making it incapable of any further combat
One theory behind the mysterious flaw is that minor hits are penetrating the turret and killing or injuring an operator who then ends up slumping forward over the controls
The T-90 tank is a third-generation Russian main battle vehicle that has been dubbed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the ‘best tank in the world’
Similar to other modern tanks, the T-90’s gun has automated aiming which rotates the turret to keep the gun locked on to a target.
The theory suggests that the 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 suite as the tank has a laser warning receiver which sounds an alarm when the tank is illuminated by a laser on the battlefield.
As well as the alarm, the system automatically twists the turret around so the gun is facing the threat and shoots off special flares to confuse laser guidance.
But as the sensors are external, any incoming damage may cause a false signal leading to the turrets spinning.
A former British Army tank commander, Hamish de Bretton-Gordan told The Telegraph, however, that the problem likely lies with inexperienced crews and poor electronics.
He added: ‘It’s very easy for inexperienced people to become very disoriented in a tank because a tank’s hull can move in one direction, the turret could be in another direction and the commander’s sight could be in a completely other direction, which is why we get the term ‘disco head’ because people can easily become disoriented and the tank spins out of control.
‘It could also be an electronics failure. Western tanks have a quite sophisticated fire control system, and the Russians don’t appear to have got it right’.