Anti-Tank Weapons of The War in Ukraine
We’re now two weeks into the conflict in Ukraine and there has been a steady stream of footage from the frontlines. We’ve seen a lot of knocked-out Russian vehicles and this is due to a large variety of infantry anti-tank weapons which have been used by the Ukrainian forces. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the weapons which have been seen in the field (as of 8 March).
Russian-Designed Anti-Tank Weapons:
As you would expect we’ve seen a lot of the ubiquitous RPG-7 with a range of rounds. In this video of a KORD unit firing on Russian Armour we can see RPG-7s firing PG-7VM HEAT rounds.
Urban fighting with hit and run RPG-7 attacks:
Members of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Force destroying a Russian truck with a PG-7VM/S round:
A considerable number of single-use Russian-designed launchers are seen too including RPG-22s and RPG-26s. Both these launchers can be seen in this footage:
In the footage below we see men, said to be Ukrainian Special Forces, using RPG-26s:
A trunk-full of RPG-22s and RPG-26s:
The Ukrainian Special Forces appear to be well equipped with anti-armour weapons with RPG-7s, RPG-22s and RVP-16s – a thermobaric rocket launcher, which Ukraine is known to have in production.
Heavier weapons have also been seen including a Russian 9K111-1 Konkurs anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system:
And the targeting screen of the Ukrainian-developed Stugna-P 130mm ATGM has been seen in a number of videos:
An interesting footnote to this is the American-made RPG-7 clone. The AirTronic Precision Shoulder-fired Rocket Launcher (PSRL) is a modernised version of the classic launcher. Ukraine began purchasing them in 2017. We got our first look at one in country in a Russia Today (RT) report on weapons captured following the battle for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Western Anti-Tank Weapons:
The transfer of Western anti-armour weapons started before the war even began. The United States transferred significant shipments of Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and M141 Bunker Defeat Munitions (BDM), also known as SMAW Disposable (SMAW-D), while the UK sent some 2,000 Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons (NLAWs). Once the war began, the range of Western anti-armour systems which have been transferred expanded rapidly!
Javelin and NLAW have already entered the wider popular consciousness and become deeply associated with the conflict already. This is, in part, because the Ukrainian public had been introduced to them as force multipliers before the war began. Below is a Ukrainian government PR photo of President Zelensky examining some newly arrived British NLAWs back in February.
Footage of NLAWs in the field and engaging the enemy have been shared in recent days, below is a video of a pair of Ukrainian soldiers posing with an NLAW each. The NLAW is a single-shot, shoulder-fired weapon which while unguided, has a fire control unit that allows the weapon to predict where the target will be when the missile reaches it, it also had a top-attack mode to target weaker top armor.
In the last few days we’ve seen some spectacular footage of the NLAW being used in the field with Ukrainian soldiers firing one down from a building, almost clipping a ledge once the missile was launched:
We haven’t yet seen any footage or photos of Javelin in use in Ukraine but sources it is being used very effectively. There have been a number of photos of the Ukrainian Army and National Guard being training on how to use Javelin with ad hoc training sessions photographed, like the one below:
The rest of the weapons sent by the west are predominantly unguided. Some of the weapons which have been confirmed on the ground include a variety of models of M72 LAW, AT4 and Spanish C-90 (M3.5) rocket launchers.
On 27 February, Sweden also announced the transfer of some 5,000 anti-armor weapons, these have been confirmed to be AT4 single-use, shoulder-fired 84mm anti-armor weapons. Photographs of them in depots ready to be issued have been shared and at least one video including one has been shared.
The other prominent weapon which has been shipped to Ukraine is the German Panzerfaust 3. On 26 February, Germany made a major announcement confirming that they would be transferring weapons to Ukraine with an initial batch of 1,000 Panzerfaust 3 shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons. They also cleared the Dutch transfer of an additional 50 Panzerfaust 3 launchers and 400 projectiles. These weapons appear to be now reaching the field. The one seen below is a Panzerfaust 3-IT, with a tandem charge DM72A1 round:
Thanks to Neil Gibson for extra information and additional IDs.
Managing Editor: TheFirearmBlog.com & Overt Defense.com. Matt is a British historian specialising in small arms development and military history. He has written several books and for a variety of publications in both the US and UK. Matt is also runs The Armourer's Bench, a video series on historically significant small arms. Here on TFB he covers product and current military small arms news. Reach Matt at: matt@thefirearmblog.com
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I do wonder if the West is taking notice of the effectiveness of the vast supply of manpad antitank rockets and looking to source a significant amount more. Both to funnel to Ukraine, but for their own stockpiles. From what I recall the US only has the ability to produce a maximum of 6,000 Javelin per year, but are currently only contracting to make 6,000. Hopefully in the Ukrainian aid package and/or recently passed budget, there is a large supplemental purchase to at least maximize that 6,000 a year this year. And possibly discussions with Raytheon/LM to increase factory production ability. Plus discussions on how to purchase in bulk at reduced price tags.
Also a consideration to expand production of things like the AT4, or better yet looks to procure a new or existing RPG/reusable rocket launcher platform (perhaps not the Mk153). Or if they are dead set on the Mk153, develop a tandem warhead rocket for it.
The US thinks very armor heavy and mobility focused. And we don't tend to think about urban warfare (despite spending so much of the GWOT doing precisely that), let alone *gasp* being on the defense and/or not having armor support. But there is a LOT to argue for infantry units, especially on the defense, being liberally supplied with antitank MANPAD rockets and missiles for taking the starch out of the attacker.
And even if WE don't end up being embroiled in a peer conflict or using them ourselves, having a few thousands (or tens of thousands) at hand in armories and depot to ship over to allies who ARE embroiled in one or might be embroiled in one (Taiwan, cough, cough) seems like a good thing. In fact, I wonder if Taiwan is looking at it to and quietly increasing their production/purchase of reusable and disposable light antitank weapons significantly.