Among the enormous losses suffered by the Russian army, the number of gods stands out the most tank crushed by Zelensky’s men, a disproportionate and unpredictable number at the start of the conflict. The constantly updated bulletin talks about the destruction of Ben 739 Tank from February 24 to today. But how did the Ukrainians defeat so many? The “secret” is the Javelin antitank missiles and the Nlaw missile system. London is one of the main suppliers of these weapons. “We will continue to provide our support to ensure that Ukraine is never attacked again,” Johnson said, implying that the military alliance is destined to continue after the ongoing hostilities have ended.
How the two systems work
THAT spear, or FGM148, entered service in 1996 and is currently considered one of the most advanced manportable antitank guided missile systems in the world alongside the Israeli Spike. They can destroy any tank and even hit lowflying helicopters. The rocket can be carried on the shoulder but can also be mounted on a tripod and uses “Fire and Forget” technology, literally launch and forget. Two people are required to launch a javelin (as opposed to the simpler nlaw), it can function at night and in any weather. As we saw on InsideOver, theNlaw, which entered service in 2009, is a new generation light singleuse antitank weapon. It is a shortrange antitank missile armed with a powerful highexplosive antitank warhead designed to take out large Russian tanks at close range. The enemy tank can be hit directly, i.e. horizontally, or from above to hit the tank in its most vulnerable spot: the turret.
“Without these missiles, the situation is different”
“The Juvelin and Nlaw missiles are effective, and without them the situation in Ukraine would be different,” he said Nick Reynolds, Research Analyst in Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, at the BBC. In addition to British help, the Ukrainians can also count on the hand of the USA, which will land 100 small drones on a rocketpropelled grenade launcher. The Russian army operates in an integrated system called Btg, which means the battlefield consists of tanks, infantry and artillery. Not common, but it has a small army size and most armored vehicles. And that is another reason for Russia’s defeat on the ground so far.
The why of the tank debacle
Philips O’Brien, a professor at St. Paul’s University, said that if the tanks were attacked, they would have no infantry troops to rescue or defend against further attacks. In addition, Russia did not have air surveillance and reconnaissance that would allow it to defend itself against attacks by Ukrainian troops. “This means that Ukrainian troops are able to ambush good firing positions and cause a lot of damage,” the professor said. Not to mention all the logistical problems faced by the Russian army. “We saw images of Russian tanks being pulled by tractors by Ukrainian farmers,” concludes O’Brien,” other tanks were abandoned because they were empty fuel. Still others got stuck in the mud because the high command marched in at the wrong time of year. Those were real logistical failures, says the Messaggero.