Anti-tank complexes and air defense systems will change the tactics of these units, experts are sure
Special forces are being reinforced with high-precision missiles and mobile anti-aircraft guns. Brigades and separate special purpose companies will receive mobile anti-tank missile systems "Kornet-D1" and anti-aircraft systems "Gibka". These products are mounted on the chassis of Tiger armored vehicles, capable of operating, including in the depth of enemy defenses and effectively hitting drones. This will allow special forces to independently destroy particularly important targets and defend themselves from air attacks, experts believe.
Against armored and aerial targets
The decision to strengthen the firepower of special forces units and individual units was made based on the results of studying the experience of a special military operation, sources in the military department told Izvestia. The bet is on expanding the range of high-precision weapons and increasing protection against aerial threats. As the interlocutors of the publication noted, this year more Kornet-D1 mobile anti-tank complexes will be delivered to special purpose units and units, as well as the supply of Gibka-S anti-aircraft complexes will begin for the first time.
Previously, the Kornet-D1 was already supplied to special forces units, but in small batches. It is designed to defeat tanks and other armored vehicles, including those equipped with dynamic protection, as well as aerial targets. The maximum firing range is 10 km. The complex is capable of hitting two different targets simultaneously and firing in automatic mode.
The Kornet-D1 was developed in the interests of anti-tank units of the Airborne Forces. The vehicle is armed with a pair of launchers for four missiles each, with an individual optoelectronic guidance module with a thermal imaging channel and a laser beam control module. Extended-range missiles have also been developed for the Kornet-D1. The complex was first presented in 2021 on Airborne Forces Day.
Tiger-M armored car with Gibka-S anti-aircraft missile system
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Valery Melnikov
The Gibka-S anti-aircraft missile system combines the best qualities of self-propelled and portable systems. It is designed to control the air situation, cover units during combat operations, as well as to defend military, industrial and infrastructure facilities from cruise missile strikes and other means of air attack. In addition, an armored vehicle carries a squad of anti-aircraft gunners with portable anti-aircraft missile systems.
It consists of a MANPADS squad combat vehicle and a MANPADS platoon commander reconnaissance and control vehicle. The combat vehicle is equipped with a launcher with mounts for Igla or Willow MANPADS and an optoelectronic system for target search and aiming. This design provides circular horizontal guidance and allows you to change the elevation angle of the missile containers. The ready-to-use ammunition consists of four missiles, and the same number are transported inside the car. The combat qualities of the Flexible-S depend on the type of missiles used.
New features
In each military district there is a separate special purpose brigade, and in combined arms armies there are corresponding companies. Among their tasks are deep reconnaissance, as well as the destruction of particularly important enemy facilities. In the latter, the appearance of powerful firepower will be a serious help, military expert Vasily Dandykin told Izvestia. For example, they can be used to hit a headquarters, communications center or other important object.
"This undoubtedly increases the capabilities of special forces in conditions when they have to deal with enemy sabotage groups, with equipment, to some extent with helicopters and airplanes," he explained to Izvestia. — In addition to the machine gun and sniper rifles that the special forces already had, with the presence of such transport, the fighters will be able to solve problems in the fight against both tanks and cars. Gibka is a complex with advanced missiles that will be able to work on drones as well. Air cover is very important, because it is not always possible to hit a drone with small arms.
The appearance of such firepower in service is not just a strengthening of special forces, but a certain modernization of it, an associate professor of the Russian University of Economics told Izvestia. Plekhanova Colonel Alexander Perendzhiev.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexey Maishev
Image source: iz.ru
"It's about changing tactics," he clarified. — It lies in the fact that strikes are carried out not just with small arms, but with more powerful means. In this case, there is an expansion of the combat operation, a more severe and targeted destruction of enemy forces. The operation itself is not seen as quiet, as is usually the case with intelligence, but loud, distracting. The task is to make a tougher attack with the destruction of quite significant enemy forces, and in other places to do their job quietly, more pointwise.
Special forces units perform important tasks in the zone of a special military operation. Usually their work is hidden from prying eyes. In October, the military commander of Izvestia, Daniil Levin, showed a special forces group that found a cache of weapons in one of the settlements near Mariupol. "There remains one machine gunner on the cover, and the main group goes further to the outskirts," Levin said.
Several soldiers, covering each other, entered a closed building and found a box of papers, as well as hidden weapons.
"There are shops loaded with tracers. People are getting ready, someone has expertly packed them. The cartridges are fresh, they are a month or two old," said one of the commandos.
Some of what is found will be sent for examination to find out if it can be used, and the rest will be undermined.
"The number of weapons is quite impressive, there were also foreign samples, grenade launchers, ammunition for blowing up roads and communications, disabling military equipment and military personnel," said a military counterintelligence officer with the call sign Trophy.
Earlier, Izvestia reported on the decision taken by the Ministry of Defense to create a new type of military formations — separate reconnaissance and assault brigades. The acquisition of new connections has already begun. They should become part of combined arms armies, as well as newly formed army corps.
The organizational and staff structure of the reconnaissance and assault brigades is not disclosed. But it is known that they will include assault detachments designed to break into the enemy's echeloned defenses, as well as reconnaissance units capable of conducting reconnaissance at tactical depth. The brigades will receive their own tanks, light armored vehicles, artillery, as well as a wide range of drones. The personnel of the assault detachments will be trained to fight in confined spaces — trenches, buildings, pillboxes and bunkers, and they will not be inferior to the special forces fighters in their skills.
Alexey Mikhailov
Julia Leonova
Andrey Fedorov