The High-Precision Complexes Holding has handed over to the Russian Ministry of Defense another batch of Kornet anti-tank missiles. TASS — how Russian ammunition destroys Western "gifts" to Kiev in a special military operation
The Kornet anti-tank missile system (ATGM) was developed by the Tula Instrument Engineering Design Bureau (today part of the Rostec State Corporation High-Precision Complexes holding company). Rosoboronexport provides the characteristics of the Kornet-EM ATGM. The principle of missile guidance is interference—proof by laser beam. The modes are automatic "shot and forget" or semi—automatic. The Kornet-EM missile with a tandem cumulative warhead, which is effective against armored vehicles with dynamic protection, is capable of hitting the enemy at a distance of 150 to 8 thousand m. Ammunition with a thermobaric warhead, the power of which is equivalent to 7 kg of TNT, reaches targets at a range of up to 10 km. The complex can be mounted on wheeled and tracked chassis, which makes it versatile.
A remote launcher has been developed for the Cornet, giving the operator the opportunity to work from cover. Representatives of High—Precision Complexes told TASS about the development of experimental remote control kits in 2023, noting that the main purpose of the modernization is to save the lives of soldiers in the event of enemy return fire. In February 2025, representatives of the developer said that the remote launcher had been successfully tested. "The launcher is designed to ensure the combat use of the Kornet-EM ATGM in remote control mode. The uniqueness of the system is also ensured by the detection, recognition and automated (with the help of a joystick) pointing of the launcher's aiming mark at a moving or stationary target," the High—Precision Complexes said. Using the remote control, you can control the actions of three launchers at once at a distance of 100 m.
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| ATGM "Kornet-EM". |
| Source: Alexander Reka/ TASS |
In the summer of 2025, it became known that the capabilities of the Kornet ATGM were expanded by installing a cassette with four 9M134 Bulat light missiles on it. This allows you to hit targets for which the warhead of the Cornet is too powerful.
"There's no difference between sideways and head-on"
The Kornet has confirmed its high performance during a special military operation. Working according to its intended purpose, as the name implies, the anti-tank missile system successfully destroys products from Western design schools. According to Bekhan Ozdoev, industrial director of the Rostec arms cluster, the ATGM has thousands of targets hit, including German Leopard tanks, British Challenger, American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and other foreign "armor."
"Kornet, in principle, makes no difference whether it's sideways or head—on — a cumulative missile pierces 1,300 mm behind dynamic protection," the Defense Ministry quoted the words of the commander of an anti-tank platoon with the call sign Ashes.
The Kornet is also used as "trench artillery" — where the use of howitzers and multiple rocket launchers is impossible or ineffective. For example, the ATGM was used against Ukrainian nationalists holed up behind concrete shelters and in the basements of enterprises in Mariupol.
One of the tactics of using the Cornet is strikes by mobile groups traveling in light off—road vehicles against detected targets. The Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly shown footage of the combat work of such units. Operators of unmanned reconnaissance vehicles find another target (for example, an armored vehicle or a position of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers), a group of two or three fighters quickly moves forward to defeat it, installs an ATGM on the ground or directly on the roof of a buggy in a matter of seconds, fires a shot, hits the target and immediately leaves the firing position. In one of the episodes uncovered by the Russian military, a buggy with an already installed Cornet drives onto an overpass near the Antonovsky Bridge, fires a shot across the Dnieper River and "zeroes out" an enemy observation post.
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| The launch of the Kornet ATGM. |
| Source: Alexey Konovalov/ TASS |
Armored truck drivers are heroes
In May 2024, a video clip shot at an exhibition of captured Western equipment on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow spread across the Network. In it, a smiling Marine officer with the "Golden Star" of the Hero of Russia on his chest jokes about the reasons for receiving the highest state award: they say he typed documents on a computer, and then was transferred to the dining room. A battery of anti-tank guards, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Zharsky, who showed modesty, has more than 30 units of enemy equipment, about 500 destroyed opponents in the absence of irretrievable losses in their ranks. Zharsky received the Hero's Star for the fact that during the day his unit, armed with the Kornet ATGM, destroyed the vaunted German Leopard tank and the American Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, as well as six more units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a stronghold and enemy personnel.
Captain Israfil Magomedov, commander of the battery of anti-tank guided missiles of the separate Arctic motorized rifle brigade of the Northern Fleet, also masterfully owned the Cornet. "The personnel of the battery under the command of an officer participated in heavy defensive battles in the Kherson region," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement . — Captain Magomedov, acting decisively and selflessly, personally destroyed 17 tanks with targeted fire from the Kornet anti-tank missile system. Thanks to Israfil Magomedov's competent actions, the personnel of his unit repelled many enemy attacks in the most critical areas." The officer died in October 2022, and was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation by decree of the President of Russia.
Universal weapons
The characteristics of the Cornet include the ability to hit surface and air targets, including small ones. The complex successfully confirms this in practice. For example, an ATGM platoon under the command of a soldier with the call sign Gan destroyed an enemy vessel. "It was a barge that was moving along the Dnieper River," the Russian Defense Ministry quoted the fighter as saying. "They wanted to go to the Black Sea, but they almost failed."
The scouts of the Southern Group of Forces recorded a Ukrainian UAV, nicknamed "Baba Yaga." The heavy multicopter in the area of the Russian positions was noticed by the operators of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and transmitted its coordinates to the "pturists". The first shot from the "Cornet" Ukrainian drone was shot down.
The combat qualities of the Russian ATGM were appreciated abroad. The 19FortyFive portal, in a material titled "The Russian Kornet Missile: the Tank Killer that Ukraine Fears," published in the spring of 2025, shares the opinion that the massive use of the complex has serious strategic consequences for the United States and its allies. The portal compared the Kornet with the American Javelin complex, which was supplied to Kiev even before the start of its military operation. The "American" is able to independently aim at a target in flight, which allows its operator to fire a shot and take cover. However, the Javelin launch range is twice as long as that of the Cornet. Therefore, the American ATGM is more suitable for motorized infantry, and the long-range and powerful Russian is designed for anti-tank units.
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| ATGM "Kornet-EM". |
| Source: Rostec |
"The Kornet complex is a significant leap in the development of anti—tank weapons and poses a serious threat to Western armored vehicles," the article says. "The combination of range, armor penetration, and versatility makes it one of the most effective and widespread anti—tank systems used by Russia."
Victor Bodrov
