In the recent Russian-Ukrainian conflict battlefield, the Ukrainian army has seized three very rare Russian weapons. The first is the “cloud bomb rocket launcher squad dedicated armored vehicle”, which is also very rare in the Russian army.
This is a very rare heavy infantry fighting vehicle designed to carry troops equipped with shoulder-fired RPO-A Cloud Bolt rocket launchers. The vehicle is modified from the T-72 main battle tank chassis, without the turret, the chassis armor is thickened, and the soldiers loaded on it are all soldiers with thermobaric rocket launchers on their shoulders.
Through the experience of the 2nd Chechen war, the Russian army believes that the cloud bomb rocket launcher is very useful in urban street battles. However, the effective range of the cloud bomb rocket launcher is only 400 meters. Under the fire blockade of the enemy’s condescending fire, it is difficult for the rocket launcher to get close to the target. Therefore, Russia has developed a “cloud bomb bazooka squad dedicated armored vehicle” based on the T-72 tank.
The task of this armored vehicle is to transport the cloud bomb squad to the battlefield fire line position, and then use the vehicle-mounted large-caliber machine gun to suppress the enemy’s firepower point and cover the cloud bomb squad to enter the launching position.
This kind of advanced vehicle is equipped in very small quantities in the Russian army. Although there are armored vehicles dedicated to the cloud bomb rocket launcher squad in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, it is the first time that the entire vehicle has been captured.
The second weapon is that the Ukrainian army found a batch of Russian AT-11 sniper-type artillery-launched missiles in the Izum forest. After the gun-launched missile is launched, it can fly 5 meters above the laser beam, and suddenly drop into the laser beam flight in the last 2 seconds of flight until it hits the target, and the armor-piercing ability can reach 900 mm.
Generally, only T-90 tanks are equipped with AT-11 sniper-type gun-launched missiles. According to the standard, a T-90 tank is equipped with 4 rounds of AT-11 sniper-type gun-launched missiles. However, because this kind of artillery-launched missile is expensive and the numbers-built is relatively small, many T-90 tanks only have 2 AT-11 sniper-type artillery-launched missiles.
The third type is the VKS type 12.7mm caliber unsupported silenced large-scale sniper rifle for special forces affiliated to the Russian Security Service. The numbers of such sniper rifles is also very small.
The special forces of the Russian Federal Security Service mainly use this 12.7mm silent sniper rifle to carry out long-distance sniping in cities, important people hidden in bulletproof cars or important people wearing reinforced body armor. It is a large-caliber silent subsonic sniper rifle specially designed to perform special tasks, mainly performing assassination and long-range sniper missions.
The special armored vehicles for the cloud bomb rocket launcher team captured by the Ukrainian army, the AT-11 sniper-type artillery-launched missile and the VKS-type 12.7mm caliber unsupported large-scale sniper rifle are all special weapons that are also rare in Russia.
In this Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Ukrainian army also seized many secret weapons and equipments of the Russian army, such as the latest Russian SAP-518 electronic jamming pod, the most advanced 2S19M2 type 152 self-propelled artillery in active service in the Russian army, in 2019, the Russian army began to accept the upgraded version of the zoo anti-artillery radar and the Russian army battlefield command vehicle, large electronic warfare system and so on.
Even the top-secret Krasukha-4 electronic warfare command system of the Russian army has fallen into the hands of the Ukrainians, and the US media said that the Ukrainians found a big treasure. Because, through the deciphering of the Krasukha-4 command system, the specific situation of the Russian army’s front-line deployment can be grasped.
It was in this battle of Igyum that the Ukrainian army made a fortune. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, in the past 10 days, the Ukrainian army has seized thousands of tons of Russian ammunition in Izum, including anti-tank missiles, rockets, howitzers, tank-launched missiles, anti-aircraft missiles and rifle ammunition, among others. At the same time they have destroyed and seized 518 various tanks and armored vehicles and self-propelled artillery, military trucks and so on.
This wave of the Russian army is equivalent to sending all the ammunition and materials piled up on the logistics line from Kupyansk to Izum, as well as the equipment of the troops belonging to the 20th Guards Army.
In the final analysis, the Russian army still relies too much on the railway system and lacks heavy trucks. In the event of a railroad being cut off, heavy weapons and a lot of baggage can only be thrown away.