Th Russian Kornet anti-tank missile system has reportedly achieved a number of thousand confirmed kills in fight, the vast majority of them within the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian Conflict in opposition to Ukrainain Army autos. The Kornet is a lightweight handheld system which was launched into service within the late Nineties, and was beforehand extensively fight examined by export purchasers together with in excessive depth conflicts in Iraq and Syria. A notable function of the missile is its tandem-charge warhead, with two high-explosive anti-tank fees separated by its rocket motor permitting for the second cost’s focal size to be elevated. This has the impact of considerably enhancing its penetrative capabilities. The significantly massive measurement of the second warhead contributes to its survivability in opposition to countermeasures similar to explosive reactive armour.
The press workplace of the Russian state defence conglomerate Rostec lately commented within the system’s efficiency when reporting on the supply of a brand new batch to the Russian Army, observing: “Within the space of the particular navy operation, Russian servicemen hit such closely protected targets as enemy drone management posts and dugouts with Krasnopol shells. These munitions had been additionally used to hit cellular armoured targets, similar to Abrams and Leopard tanks.” “Russian servicemen name the Kornet the enemy armor torcher. The weapon has a file of 1000’s of efficiently destroyed targets, amongst them Leopard and Challenger tanks, Bradley infantry preventing autos and different Western-made armor, enemy strongholds and fortifications,” it added, noting: “It’s used from varied shelters, mounted on buggies and quad bikes. A remote-control panel has been created for it to make sure an operator’s security in case of enemy retaliatory fireplace.”
For the reason that Kornet first entered service, new and enhanced variants have continued to be developed, most notably the prolonged vary Kornet-EM which has automated goal monitoring capabilities and extra superior countermeasures in opposition to explosive reactive armour. Russian President Vladimir Putin in mid-2023 praised the system’s efficiency stating that there was a necessity for manufacturing of higher portions. The Kornet would acquire additional publicity in September that yr when it was credited withattaining the primary kill in opposition to a British Challenger 2 within the theatre, simply days after the tanks’ first deployment for frontline operations.The system is nonetheless hindered by a ack of ‘fireplace and neglect’ capabilities as seen on rivals just like the American Javelin and Chinese language HJ-12, with Russia having achieved a ground-launched anti-tank missile with such capabilities solely after buying the Bulsae-4 from North Korea.
Kornets had been first utilized in fight throughout the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, after Iraqi Republican Guard models obtained the missiles by black market offers and in defiance of UN Safety Council imposed arms embargoes. The missiles proved extremely efficient in opposition to American Abrams tanks and Bradley preventing autos. Kornets had been used once more three years later in opposition to Israeli Merkava tanks, together with the improved Merkava IV variant, when deployed by the paramilitary group Hezbollah in 2006, piercing the armour of at the least two dozen tanks. Militias from the Islamic State terror group additionally used captured Kornets extremely successfully to disable a number of Iraqi Army Abrams tanks from 2014, with some studies indicating that Kornets had been additionally utilized by Islamic State models to nice impact in opposition to Turkish Leopard 2 tanks in Syria.
