Ukrainian Brigade Strikes Russian Armoured Personnel Carrier Using Guided Missile System
The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia has escalated in recent months, with both sides exchanging fire and suffering casualties. In a recent incident, a Ukrainian brigade reportedly destroyed a Russian armoured personnel carrier (APC) using a guided missile system, according to a video released by the Ukrainian military.
The Attack
The video, obtained by Zenger News from the 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade, an airmobile formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces, shows a Russian APC spewing smoke and fire after being hit by a missile. The brigade said on social media: “The enemy has not got through! Units of the 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to inflict losses on Russian occupants, fighting them in the eastern direction.”
The brigade also claimed that they used a British-made Next Generation Light Anti-Armour Weapon (NLAW) to destroy the Russian vehicle, which they identified as a BMD, a Soviet airborne amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle. The brigade said that they defeated soldiers of the “elite” Pskov division of the Russian Federation, and inflicted about 50 casualties on the enemy.
The location and date of the attack were not revealed by the brigade, but it is likely that it took place in the eastern regions of Ukraine, where the Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian government forces since 2014.
The Weapon
The NLAW is an anti-tank guided missile system developed in Sweden and mainly produced in the United Kingdom. It entered service in 2009 and has been exported to several countries, including Finland, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Sweden.
The NLAW is designed to be a fire-and-forget weapon, meaning that the operator does not need to guide the missile after launch. The missile has a tandem warhead, which can penetrate both reactive armour and main armour of modern tanks. The missile has a range of up to 800 meters and can be fired from either the shoulder or a tripod.
The U.K. has delivered thousands of NLAW units to Ukraine prior to and during the invasion, as part of its military assistance to the country. The U.K. has also sent other weapons and equipment, such as sniper rifles, anti-tank missiles, drones, and radar systems, to help Ukraine defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
