MOSCOW, Apr 4 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz.Russia has attracted all types and kinds of armed forces to the military special operation in Ukraine, with the exception of the "nuclear triad". Both time-tested weapons and brand-new ones are used. About what the Russian army is fighting with — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Steel Fist
The main striking force of the Ground Forces, tanks support infantry offensives, destroy shelters, firing points, break through fortified areas. In the video reports of the Ministry of Defense, you can see almost the entire range of combat vehicles: both the seasoned T-72B of the 1989 model, and the T-72B3, and quite modern T-80BVM, T-90M.
The latest T-14 Armata has not yet been used. However, what is there is more than enough to fight the Ukrainian T-64 and T-72 early modifications. Moreover, the widely advertised Javelin and NLAW ATGMs of Western production do not particularly help the APU: there are a lot of shots in social networks demonstrating how Russian tanks are fighting even after several direct hits — dynamic protection saves.
Of infantry fighting vehicles — mainly BMP-1 and BMP-2, BMP-3 — less. This technique is well known in the troops: the "boxes" have participated in all armed conflicts of the last decades. BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, Typhoon-U and Typhoon-K trucks, as well as Tiger SUVs have already been thoroughly tested in Syria. But the combat vehicles of the BMD-4M landing made their debut in the Kiev direction. Their main trump card is the 100—millimeter 2A70 cannon, which allows, under certain conditions, to resist even tanks on an equal footing.
The landing of the tactical landing units of the Airborne Troops of the Russian Federation and taking control of the Antonov airfield in Gostomel. Video frame
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The special operation involves various artillery installations — from 120-millimeter mortars to heavy 203-millimeter 2S7M "Malka" self-propelled guns. Their fire is corrected from reconnaissance drones. And the most important objects are destroyed by guided projectiles guided by a laser beam.
Rocket artillery is widely used — Tornado-G and Tornado-S MLRS, heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1 "Pinocchio" and TOS-1A "Solntsepek". This type of weapons can also include the latest engineering remote mining machine "Agriculture", first shown to the general public in Moscow at the Victory Parade in 2020. It is capable of exposing a minefield of any complexity at a distance of five to 15 kilometers in half a minute. Targets at long distances are hit by Iskander operational and tactical missile systems and, in some cases, Bastion coastal missile systems.
Capturing the sky
In the first days of the special operation, the Russian Aerospace Forces seriously thinned the Ukrainian air defense system, gaining unconditional superiority in the air. As they wrote in the American edition of Military Watch Magazine, the outdated Ukrainian Su-27 and MiG-29 fighters could not oppose anything to the modern Su-30SM and Su-35. According to the Ministry of Defense, the VKS did not lose a single car in air battles, "dry" shooting down several dozen enemy aircraft. Western journalists note: although both sides have similar equipment developed under the USSR, the Russian one is distinguished by more advanced avionics and means of destruction.
Modern Ka-52 and Mi-28N helicopters operate on land units. Their guided missiles "Whirlwind" and "Attack" easily cope with armored vehicles, and the onboard defense system protects well from MANPADS. Only a few cars were lost from the fire from the ground. Despite the fact that both the Ka-52 and Mi-28N managed to fight in Syria, the mass use in Ukraine is unprecedented.
In March, the Ministry of Defense used MiG-31K interceptor fighters with hypersonic aeroballistic Daggers for the first time: they attacked the fortified underground arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, where the combat units of the Tochka-U operational and tactical complexes were stored. The launch was made from a distance of a thousand kilometers. The Dagger penetrated several meters of reinforced concrete and detonated inside, completely destroying the object.
MiG-31K interceptor fighter with Kinzhal hypersonic missile
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov
At the same time, footage of the combat work of the Pacer UAV appeared, the production of which will soon be launched in Dubna near Moscow. Drones with guided missiles successfully hunt for armored vehicles. Thus, Russia has significantly reduced the gap with NATO countries in this type of weapons.
At the same time, the Turkish-made Ukrainian Bayraktar TB-2 drones have not played a significant role at the front. The special operation proved that strike UAVs cease to be a "superweapon" as soon as they stumble upon a competently built, deep-echeloned air defense system. The Bayraktars are completely powerless in front of the Tor-M2, Buk, S-400 and Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile systems.
Sea Front
The Russian Navy was most active in the first days of the operation. The ships of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed the naval base in Ochakov, damaged and flooded most of the Navy pennants, and also provided fire support to the marines during the capture of the island of Zmeiny. The surviving boats and support vessels of the Ukrainian Navy were forced to relocate to Odessa. The naval theater remained completely behind Russia.
Now the Black Sea Fleet has auxiliary functions in the interests of land groups. Ships almost daily strike with winged "Calibers" at Ukrainian warehouses of weapons, equipment and fuel, places of concentration of troops, headquarters and fortified areas. Presumably, on March 13, they also covered the Yavorovsky training ground. Then, we recall, up to 200 Western mercenaries were killed.
However, the Ukrainian military managed to deliver a sensitive blow to the Navy. On the twenty-fourth of March, the AFU fired missiles at the port of Berdyansk, damaging two large landing ships. A strong fire broke out at the Saratov BDK, as a result, it had to be flooded at the pier. In fact, this shelling is the only more or less significant success of the Ukrainian military in the confrontation with the Russian fleet.
Andrey Kotz
