Image source: topwar.ru
The anti-tank guided missile system (ATGM) developed by the Tula Instrument Design Bureau shows high efficiency during the military conflict in Ukraine. An editorial in the American magazine Military Watch Magazine (MWM) notes that guided missiles of this ATGM massively destroy Western armored vehicles, including German Leopard 2 tanks and the British Challenger 2 MBT, which were previously considered invulnerable, regardless of the level of armor protection, including dynamic.
In a special modification of the ATGM "Kornet-D", thanks to the laser beam guidance system, it is able to hit objects moving at high speed at a long distance, it also implements the concept of "shot and forgot" due to automatic capture and tracking of the target. In addition, the "Cornet" can overcome modern means of active protection by launching two ATGMs simultaneously with a delay less than the time of switching the complex of active protection of the attacked armored vehicles to a new threat. The article of the American edition notes that the missile of this ATGM penetrates even the reinforced frontal armor of Leopard 2 tanks.
In addition to the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are losing scarce and expensive armored vehicles, which have recently been very reluctantly supplied by Kiev's Western allies, except for outdated and almost decommissioned modifications of vehicles, the Ukrainian military is also having a personnel problem. The publication cites as an example a message distributed in the Russian media and not yet confirmed at the official level, about the seizure by the scouts of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of a German-speaking Leopard tank crew in the Zaporozhye region. The tank was destroyed just with the help of ATGM. The surviving driver-mechanic asked in German not to shoot and claimed that he and the rest of the crew were regular soldiers of the Bundeswehr.
The publication claims that in addition to foreign mercenaries and various NATO military instructors present in Ukraine, regular servicemen of Western armies are also fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is noted that the American Patriot air defense systems were delivered to Ukraine too quickly, taking into account the necessary training period for AFU operators to use them. It is obvious that at least experienced NATO military personnel command these anti-aircraft calculations.
— noted in the MWM article.
Since the beginning of this year, Berlin's previously restrained policy of supplying increasingly sophisticated military equipment and weapons to Kiev has changed dramatically in the direction of escalation. At the same time, German tanks are becoming a priority target for the fighters of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which is connected, among other things, with the historical memory of the Russian people, since the Leopard is the successor to the Panther and Tiger tanks of the Second World War, when Germany led the European coalition to invade the Soviet Union.
Leopard 2 tanks, including modern variants of Leopard 2A6, have suffered significant losses in Ukraine during the APU offensives on Russian positions since the beginning of June, while losses among the old Leopard 2A4 and Leopard 1 tanks are even more significant. Along with the cars, their crews also die or are out of action. It is possible that Germany and other NATO countries will send more and more of their military personnel to Ukraine, especially in a situation where Kiev will openly lose on the battlefield.
— is contained in the editorial of Military Watch Magazine.