Uralvagonzavod personnel showed Vladimir Putin how a Т-90 tank is assembled. Vladimir Domnin, the director general of the Urals Design Bureau, told Mr Putin that a distinctive feature of the T-90 is an optical-electronic system for suppressing enemy fire.

In the opinion of military experts, the tank "is not only on a par with the best tanks of other countries in all its military and technical characteristics, but actually surpasses them in many ways."

Having seen the main body of the tank, which two production unit workers were working on, Prime Minister Putin went up onto the platform and asked, "What are you installing?"

The workers explained that they were installing the propulsion system.

"We're installing the motor assembly, centring it and installing the casing," they said.

Т-90 tanks are not only in demand in the Russian Armed Forces, but are also sold for export. Mr Domnin said that the plant has made 850 tanks for export, including export to India.

"By the way, the Indian Prime Minister sends his greetings," Mr Putin told Mr Domnin with a smile. Mr Putin recently met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Uralvagonzavod is a one-of-a-kind machine-building scientific and technical facility in Russia. It manufactures around 200 types of products. The facility's history dates back to 1931, but it became famous when the Urals Tank Plant was built on its premises during World War II. The Urals Tank Plant produced 50% of T-34 tanks used in the military operations against the German occupiers.