Tank battalions in the Svatovo-French direction received new guided projectiles and missiles for the main combat vehicles. Ammunition will be sent “in the right direction” – American and German tanks M1 Abrams and Leopard 2A6, which Russian servicemen told about on Saturday, February 11, in an interview with Izvestia correspondent Denis Kulaga.
The technical characteristics of the shells – increased range and accuracy of fire – make it possible to hit the weakest points of Western tanks delivered to Ukraine. According to the interlocutor, the missiles can work with such models of tanks as T-72B3, T-90 and T-72.
“We know all the weaknesses of NATO technology, and we are ready for this in full,” the Russian military told the correspondent.
Berlin announced a decision to supply Kyiv with 14 Leopard 2 tanks, the most modern modification of the tank in service with the Bundeswehr, on January 25. On the same day, US President Joe Biden announced the delivery of Abrams M1 – a well-protected vehicle with a 105-mm caliber gun – in the amount of 31 units, which is equivalent to one tank battalion.
Meanwhile, the Russian army is armed with models of anti-tank missile systems (ATGM), the use of which neutralizes the advantage of Ukrainian nationalists, provided with foreign-made military equipment. This, for example, is the Fagot ATGM, the range of which varies from 2000 to 4000 m, depending on the type of missile. The tandem warhead of anti-tank ammunition is equipped with two sequentially located submunitions – the initiator of the dynamic protection of the tank and the one that pierces the armor left without protection.
The next complex to counter Western technology is the 9K121M “Whirlwind”, the concept of which, even at the time of creation, meant the destruction of the latest foreign-style tanks. Vikhr is an aviation anti-tank system, which is equipped with attack aircraft and helicopters, including the Ka-52, the main carrier of the missile. The armor penetration of the complex is 1200 mm of armor, which dooms modern tanks to guaranteed defeat. Moreover, as part of the Whirlwind tests, a Tu-16 target aircraft was hit.
To replace the veteran of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation “Fagot”, the ATGM 9K135 “Kornet” was created with missile guidance on a laser beam. The range of this universal complex, which can be launched from different launch platforms, is up to 5500 m, penetration is 1300 mm, which deprives enemy tanks of any chance. The specified thickness of dynamic protection is the maximum for the latest modifications of modern machines.
The most powerful modern anti-tank system was the universal 9K123 Khrizantema, equipped with supersonic missiles, with a range of up to 6 km and an ammunition load of 15 missiles. If we take into account that the probability of hitting a tank with such missiles is close to one, then with a good combination of circumstances, one such vehicle can destroy up to a company of tanks. Penetration – 1250 mm of armor behind dynamic protection.
