"There used to be high demand, especially after the Second World War," said Nikolai Malykh, director of the Uralvagonzavod plant that produces Russia's latest tank model in the city of Nizhny Tagil.

"We've had economic problems and difficulties, but we're working on them," added Malykh during a rare visit by foreign journalists to the production site.

Malykh's sprawling factory became famous for producing the historic T-34 tank used against Nazi Germany -- a model displayed on the grounds is used every year for Victory Day parades -- and the T-72, deployed in Afghanistan and bought by many other countries.

This heartland of Soviet military power has also been a target for foreign intelligence.

US spy pilot Gary Powers was shot down by a surface-to-air missile at a spot near Nizhny Tagil in 1960 and civil aircraft are still banned from flying over the city.

"International delegations started arriving in the 1990s. I think most of them were spies. Then we started to work out who the real partner is and who the spy is," Malykh said.

Little seems to have changed externally since Soviet times, even though the region was declared open in 1993.

The Lenin statues still stand, a city area is named after notorious Soviet secret agency chief Felix Dzerzhinsky and the vast Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Combine looms, belching orange smoke into the sky.

"We should preserve the past as much as possible," said Nikolai Didenko, the city's mayor, a former Communist Party apparatchik with a reputation as a hardliner.

Now the city is promoting the T-90S tank, which makers say can cross waters up to five metres deep and shoot down a helicopter from six kilometres. It is also light enough to be flown in a military transport plane.

Russian arms exports have surged in recent years -- the country sold military equipment to 61 countries for a value of more than six billion dollars in 2005 (4.7 billion euros) -- and President Vladimir Putin has ordered a hardware upgrade for the Russian army.

But the sales figures are not rising fast enough for Uralvagonzavod.

India bought 326 models soon after the T-90S came out at the end of the 1990s, Algeria this year signed up for 40 models and the Russian army has ordered 31 more so far in 2006.

However, there are no other international buyers.

Competition on the world market has proved tough and Russia's defence ministry "definitely does not pay market rate," complained Boris Mineyev, a spokesman for the factory.

At a testing ground amid a forest of birch and pine, Malykh tugged on a cigarette as a T-90S rumbled across the obstacle course, waded through water and pounded a hillside.

He said the tank won a tender to supply the Indian army by competing against foreign tanks in a test race across the desert.

"The others didn't make it," he said, stressing that the T-90S had a better engine and air filters.

Black smoke billowing from the back, the tank sped over a jump on the obstacle course and flew some 10 metres before landing with a heavy thud and driving on. Its makers like to refer to the T-90S as a "flying tank."

"I can't put it very elegantly but it's reliable. It'll get you to where you want to go and it'll protect you," said Grigory, 43, the driver.

"And it's got air-conditioning!" added Alexei, another member of the three-man crew, smiling with relief under the large black flaps of his padded tank helmet.

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