Russia’s most modern tank suffers ‘disco head’ glitch that sees its turret spinning out of control while under fire

Russia’s most modern tank is suffering from a ‘disco head’ failure causing its turrets to spin out of control while under fire on the battlefield.

The bizarre flaw has affected the T-90 tank – a third-generation Russian combat vehicle that Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the “best tank in the world.”

But the impressive machine has been hit by an embarrassing bug called ‘spinning turret syndrome’, where any minor damage causes the turret to spin uncontrollably, rendering it incapable of further combat.

The worst example of the error came during a battle in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, when Ukrainian troops in two US-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 gun fire, which was expected to cause little damage to the T-90s due to their heavy frontal armor.

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 collided with a tree, causing it to stop turning

However, after a few warm-ups, the tank’s turret began to rotate rapidly clockwise, meaning the Russians had no chance of returning fire accurately.

Footage of the humiliating incident showed the turret spinning in a frenzy with no end in sight, until the gun barrel finally collided with a tree, stopping the spinning.

Unable to return fire to the Ukrainians, the tank’s crew fled on foot before the tank was demolished by a Ukrainian first-person view attack drone.

Spinning turret syndrome was also observed on another occasion on May 10, after a T-90 was attacked by a series of FPV kamikazes.

When the second one hits, the turret begins rotating clockwise before pausing for a moment while the crew tries to get it under control.

But to no avail, the spinning starts again and continues until the tank stops and the engine seems to have turned off.

In recent weeks, several abandoned T-90Ms have been destroyed by grenades dropped by Ukrainian drones.

One theory behind the mysterious glitch is that small hits penetrate the turret and kill or injure an operator, who then slumps forward over the controls.

This theory says that the position of the levers to operate the tower means that someone throwing at it 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 been hit by an embarrassing bug where any minor damage causes the turret to spin uncontrollably, rendering it incapable of further combat.

One theory behind the mysterious glitch is that small hits penetrate the turret and kill or injure an operator, who then slumps forward over the controls.

The T-90 tank is a third-generation Russian fighting vehicle that has been described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the “best tank in the world”

Like other modern tanks, the T-90’s gun has auto-aiming, which rotates the turret to keep the gun trained on 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 equipment, 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 that the gun faces the threat and fires special flares to confuse the laser guidance.

But because the sensors are external, any incoming damage can cause a false signal, causing the turrets to spin.

A former British Army tank commander, Hamish de Bretton-Gordan, said this The Telegraphhowever, that the problem likely lies with inexperienced crews and poor electronics.

He added: ‘It is very easy for inexperienced people to become 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 can be a completely different direction. That’s why I get the term “disco head” because people can easily become disoriented and the tank goes out of control.

‘It could also be an electronics fault. Western tanks have a pretty sophisticated fire control system, and the Russians don’t seem to be good at it.”