The Russian armed forces dispatched heavy armored units and helicopter gunship groups, adopted blitzkrieg tactics in the early days of the Russo-Ukrainian War, carried out surprise operations in Ukraine, and their interspersed and cutting tactics surrounded the heavy groups of Ukrainian troops deployed in the eastern region, Russia was carrying out urban offensive battles in the fortified clear field, and its Russian airborne troops landed in Kharkov. As a measure of modern standards of heavy armored forces and helicopter gunship groups, the Russian armed forces as a whole played well, using anti-radiation missiles, cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles to suppress and destroy the opponent's air defense and command system, but in the Russian heavy armored forces destroyed Ukrainian military bases, Ukraine's use of anti-tank weapons caused trouble to russian heavy armored forces, but also caused russian tank troops minimal losses.
The Russian armored forces received the new T-72B3M and T-90 main battle tanks, relying on more elite armored assault forces, and on the whole, the Russian armored forces used sharp spears to attack Ukrainian military bases and sweep the battlefield, while ukrainian troops used anti-tank weapons as spears for counterattack, delaying the assault force of Russian armored forces. Ukraine was equipped with domestically manufactured anti-tank weapons and anti-tank weapons aided by the United States and Europe in the Russo-Ukrainian War. This article takes stock of the anti-tank weapons used by Ukrainian forces.
American-made "Javelin" anti-tank missiles
Before the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the United States provided Ukraine with Javelin anti-tank missiles to enhance Ukraine's anti-tank combat capabilities. Ukraine acquired about 130 Sets of Javelin missile launchers and 1200 Javelin anti-tank missiles, which played an important role on the battlefield and posed a threat to Russian tanks and armored forces. The "Javelin" anti-tank missile, the full name of the FGM-148 individual portable anti-tank missile, is the United States column four generations of portable anti-tank missiles, the overall combat capability is strong, the overall hit rate of 94%, equipped with infrared gaze lock image guidance, while the anti-jamming ability is strong, with "no matter after launch" capability, the longest launch distance of 4 kilometers, the entire system weighs 22.5 kilograms, is the US Army's non-prepared combat weapons. The Javelin anti-tank missile has been improved with a CLU launch system that reduces the launch weight by 30%, increases the flexibility and mobility of the Army, and increases the range to launch surprise attacks on tanks or armored vehicles in a relatively safe area. The "Javelin" anti-tank missile has a strong destructive ability, which can be called a "vehicle killer", and its strong armor-breaking ability has also made Russian tanks and armored units jealous.
The "Javelin" anti-tank missile adopts the "top-attack operation" mode and the "infrared imaging seeker" technology, which can perform sneak attack operations at night, rely on the "infrared imaging aiming device" to search for targets, launch anti-tank missiles to automatically track targets, detonate charge warheads above tanks and armored vehicles, which is also the Russian armored unit to install homemade grille armor on the tank turret to resist the Ukrainian "Javelin" anti-tank missile to destroy the vulnerable top of the tank turret. "Javelin" anti-tank missile in the Russian-Ukrainian war, relying on the launch site is not constrained, the new model can penetrate 1100 mm static armor, compared to the tank unit price is generally in the millions of dollars, its javelin anti-tank missile cost of 200,000 US dollars, as a whole is also quite cost-effective, its warhead is a series of armor-breaking warheads, cracking the Russian tank reactive armor capabilities. On the Syrian battlefield, the Russian tank unit explored a unique trick against the US-made "Javelin" anti-tank missile, in addition to equipping the grille roof, the most important thing is that the tank detachment relies on the superiority of reconnaissance equipment to reconnoiter the Ukrainian anti-tank missile shooters and eliminate the danger in the early embryonic stage.
At present, Ukraine is equipped with "Stinger" man-portable air defense missiles and "Javelin" anti-tank missiles, and it is also debatable whether the overall battlefield has caused serious damage to Russian armored forces, but Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Konashenkov said that the Russian army captured the Us-made "Javelin" anti-tank missile system and british light anti-tank weapons (NLAW) on the battlefield. In the case of the Ukrainian "Javelin" anti-tank missiles are exhausted, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries once again to Ukraine to aid military equipment, including Javelin missiles, is bound to pose a serious threat to Russian tank armor.
British Light Anti-Tank Weapons (NLAW)
In January 2022, the UK supplied Ukraine with light anti-tank weapons, transported by British Air Force C-17 transport aircraft, providing about 1440 light anti-tank weapons, declaring that this weapon did not pose a threat to Russia and was intended to be "defensive". With the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War, this light anti-tank weapon posed a threat to the Russian tank unit, and could use the skipped attack and direct attack strike modes, the projectile design did not use the traditional cylinder, the warhead was thick and the bullet body was thin, and it was equipped with a hollow charge armor-breaking warhead. The advantage of the entire anti-tank weapon is the heavy weight, with the ability to ignore it after firing, and can effectively hit armored targets. As a light anti-tank weapon, the anti-tank missile is sealed in the launcher, but this missile performs poorly on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield and the overall performance is not as good as the bazooka.
The overall performance quality of British light anti-tank weapons is poor, the accuracy of hits is also worrying, coupled with its limited power, range, the biggest drawback is that the range is about 600 meters, and the overall performance of the American "Javelin" anti-tank missile is very different. The 36th Ukrainian Brigade is equipped with light anti-tank weapons, which seem to have advanced overall performance of light anti-tank weapons, its shortcomings are seriously questioned in the battlefield, its moisture is seriously questioned, the actual combat range is 400 meters, equipped with anti-tank missiles with a diameter of 150 mm, there is always a short range and other disadvantages, which is equivalent to killing anti-tankers. The collective surrender of the 36th Ukrainian Brigade was largely dragged down by British light anti-tank weapons.
Ukraine made its own "Stugna" anti-tank missiles
The "Stugna" anti-tank missile system is a portable anti-tank missile system developed by the Kiev Design Bureau of Ukraine, the target is a stationary and mobile modern armored target, equipped with 30 mm and 152 mm two caliber missiles, using the same design as the British light anti-tank weapons, the anti-tank missile is sealed in the launcher, using tandem hollow charge and high explosive fragments, and is also the longest range anti-tank missile system equipped in Ukraine, with a maximum range of about 5 kilometers. In November 2021, the Ukrainian Army obtained 57 sets of "Stugna" high-precision anti-tank missile system, the advantage is the new long-range high-power anti-tank weapons, equipped with day and night integrated sighting device and three-legged structure, the overall combat is strong, can penetrate about 800 mm armor, suitable for soldier combat, effectively attack the third generation of reactive armor of the third generation of main battle tanks, including the use of composite armor, explosive reactive armor, integral armor and other tank targets, In order to ensure the safety of the shooter, remote firing can be carried out in a bunker 50 meters away from the launcher, using optical and thermal imagers to capture 5 kilometers and attack armored targets such as tanks.
The "Stugna" anti-tank missile system and the "Javelin" anti-tank missile have advantages in each other, can be launched at minus 40 degrees Celsius, no laser rangefinder is used, there is a gap between the flight trajectory and hit rate compared with the "Javelin" anti-tank missile, and in the face of the frequent failure of the Russian T-90A tank, it is difficult to call it a modern high-performance anti-tank system. Overall, it is cheaper than the U.S.-made Javelin, which also allows Ukraine to equip front-line troops on a large scale.
Ukraine makes its own "Viking" anti-tank missiles
The "Viking" anti-tank missile is also developed by the Kiev Design Bureau of Ukraine, as a laser-guided anti-tank missile, the range is twice as short as the "Stugna" anti-tank missile, the overall weight is 15 kg, the missile caliber is 107 mm, the laser pointer is used to aim at the target, the power is not as powerful as the "Stugna" anti-tank missile, using a high-explosive warhead, which can penetrate the armor of 550 mm tanks. The Viking anti-tank missile was developed by Poland and Ukraine and developed two versions according to operational needs: the Pirat-1 and Pirat-2 versions, of which the Pirat-1 version is the army infantry version, which can be equipped with three kinds of 2.5 kg warheads, including armor-piercing warheads, temperature-pressure warheads and high-explosive fragments, while the Pirat-2 version is basically the same as the Pirat-1 version, the reflection speed is increased, the tank reaction time is reduced, and the tandem explosion forming warhead is used. According to the head of the Ukrainian project, the pirate anti-tank missile has a 100% chance of hitting and destroying the target in the first shot.
The advantage of the Viking anti-tank missile is the low price, the whole system is $120,000, and the missile costs $20,000. The "Pirate" anti-tank missile tripod has a simple structure, the photoelectric system is relatively rough, and it is difficult to pose a threat to Russian tanks with small power.
In addition to the installation of Ukrainian self-made anti-tank missiles, and at the same time equipped with the anti-tank missile systems of the United States and britain, the Ukrainian Army is also equipped with 9M113 "competition", 9M111 "basson pipe" and 9M115 "mixed-race" anti-tank missiles, these three anti-tank missiles are manufactured during the Soviet period, and the overall performance is lagging behind. Ukrainian troops attacked Russian tank units, but also used the American M141 rocket launcher, RPG-29 rocket launcher, RPG-26 and RPG-22 rocket launcher, the overall short range disadvantage, generally 250-800 meters, it is difficult to play an important role in the battlefield. With the Russian army gaining air supremacy in Ukraine, It is difficult for Ukrainian anti-tank weapons to fight in frontal battlefields, but it may also play a residual heat in urban battles.