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Russian armed forces to receive Kornet-M and 9K115 Metis-M1 anti-tank-guided missiles TASS 12605161

Military Defense Industry Technology - Kornet-M & Metis-M1 ATGM

Russian armed forces to receive Kornet-M and 9K115 Metis-M1 anti-tank-guided missiles

Russian Armed Forces are receiving new Kornet-M (NATO reporting name: AT-14 Spriggan) and man-portable 9K115-2 Metis-M1 (AT-13 Saxhorn-2) anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) systems, according to a source within Russian defense industry.

Russian-made Kornet AT-14 Spriggan ATGM (Anti-Tank Guided Missile)

"Russian Armed Forces are increasing their anti-tank capabilities, receiving new anti-tank missile systems, such as Kornet and Kornet-M. In March 2015, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) has brought into service new man-portable Metis-M1 ATGM systems, which is well suitable for both dismounted soldiers and airborne troops. The service life of previously delivered anti-tank missiles, namely, 9K111 Fagot (AT-4 Spigot), 9K115 Metis (AT-7 Saxhorn) and 9K111-1 Konkurs (AT-5 Spandrel) is expiring. They cannot effectively eliminate modern main battle tanks (MBT) and medium/heavy armoured vehicles on the modern battlefield. The frontal armour of M1A2 Abrams and Leopard 2A5/A6 MBTs is invulnerable to ageing Soviet missiles, while Kornet/Kornet-M, Konkurs-M and Metis-M1 ATGM systems equipped with modern electro-optical sighting systems pose a significant threat to such vehicles. Russian Armed Forces are supposed to be rearmed with state-of-the-art anti-tank missile systems by 2020," the source said.

At present, the units of Russian Armed Forces are receiving three types of modern ATGMs, namely, 9K135 Kornet, 9K115-2 Metis-M1 and Kornet-M (both in man-portable and in self-propelled configurations). The Ministry of Defense (MoD) does not disclose the number of anti-tank weapons being delivered to the national army. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies` (IISS) report, Russian Armed Forces had deployed 9K111 Fagot, 9K113 Konkurs, 9K115 Metis, 9K115-1 Metis-M (M stands for upgraded, Modernizirovanny) and 9K135 Kornet, 9K114 Shturm (AT-6 Spiral), 9K120 Ataka (AT-9 Spiral-2), 9K123 Khrisantema (AT-15 Springer) and 9K121M Vikhr-M (AT-16 Scallion) ATGM systems.

Kornet ATGM is replacing obsolete Fagot and Konkurs anti-tank weapons. 9K135 includes tripod-mounted launcher, guided missiles and electro-optical sight with integrated cooling thermal imager. Kornet has a combat weight of 63.7 kg; hence, it is not man-portable to full extent. The weapon has a semi-automatic command-to-line of sight (SACLOS) laser beam-riding guidance system. Kornet fires two types of munitions, namely anti-tank 9M133-1 and 9M133F-1 multirole guided missiles. 9M133-1 is armoured with tandem shaped-charge warhead, being able extremely effective against heavy armoured vehicles. It has an armour-piercing capability of 1,000-1,200 mm of rolled homogenous armour (RHA) behind explosive reactive armour (ERA) and a maximum firing range of up to 5,500 m. The blast and fragmentation effect specifications of the 9M133F-1 missile`s warhead are equal to those of the 152 mm 3VOF72 round. Kornet`s thermal imager has a cooling time of less than 7 minutes.

9K135 system is used in both tripod-mounted and self-propelled configurations. B055Ya01 Berezhok and Epokha combat modules developed by Tula-based Instrument Design Bureau (Russian acronym: KBP, a subsidiary of the High-Precision Weapons holding) has received four ready-to-launch 9M133/9M133M-2 anti-tank missiles in two banks.

KBP has developed enhanced variant of Kornet designated as Kornet-M. It has received new missiles, namely, anti-tank 9M133M-2 and multirole 9M133FM-2 and 9M133FM-3 ones. Kornet-M is equipped with upgraded variant of Kornet`s organic electro-optical sight (with 12x/20x zoom) and improved 9P163M-2 tripod-mounted launcher. The 9M133M-2`s armour-piercing capability and maximum firing range have been increased to 1,100-1,300 mm of RHA behind ERA and 8,000 m, respectively.

9M133FM-2 is armed with high-explosive (HE) warhead, which has an explosive equivalent of 10 kg. The missile has a maximum firing range of 8,000 m and a combat weight of 31 kg (in canister). 9M133FM-3 missile features reduced effectiveness of warhead (it has an explosive equivalent of 7 kg) and increased maximum firing range (10,000 m).

Anti-tank guided missile system Metis-M1

To increase anti-tank capabilities of motor rifle and tank units, KBP has developed self-propelled variant of Kornet-M anti-tank system based on VPK-233116 Tigr-M 4x4 wheeled utility vehicle. Russian MoD has designated the system as 9P163-3 Kornet-D1. It is armed with eight ready-to-launch 9M133M-2/9M133FM-2/9M133FM-3 missiles installed on two telescopic masts (four missiles on each mast). Eight more missiles are stored in the vehicle`s combat compartment. The system can track and attack two targets simultaneously, firing in salvo mode to increase hit probability and to disable enemy`s active protection systems (APS). It is equipped with jamming system, which suppresses hostile high-precision weapons and electro-optical systems. The vehicle can eliminate hostile low-flying aerial targets, such as small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), combat helicopters and close air support (CAS) aircraft.

Russian Armed Forces has started to receive Kornet-D1 self-propelled anti-tank guided missile systems (SPATGM). Several Kornet-D1 SPATGMs were demonstrated at the 9 May Victory Day parade in Moscow in 2015. According to the source, the Armed Forces may receive 92 9P163-3 Kornet-D SPATGMs in the years to come.

9K115-2 Metis-M1 SACLOS wire-controlled man-portable ATGM system was developed in the early 2000s. It has a combat weight of 29.8 kg and can be transported by three servicemen. The first soldier carries hanger with launcher and one missile (23.8 kg in total), the second one - the hanger with two missiles (28.6 kg in total) and the third one - the hanger with sighting system and spare parts (9 kg in total). Metis-M1 can be airdropped in one separate container, providing anti-tank capability for airborne troops. It has a maximum firing range of 2,000 m.

The system comprises man-portable launcher and infrared sight with integrated thermal imager. Metis-M1 can fire 9M131M anti-tank missile with tandem warhead and 9M131FM multipurpose guided missile with thermobaric warhead. 9M131 AT missile has an armour-piercing capability of 900-950 mm of RHA behind explosive reactive armour (ERA). 9M131FM missile can effectively eliminate both hostile personnel and engineer installations on the modern battlefield.

Metis-M1 will drastically increase the firepower of the Airborne Forces (Russian acronym: VDV). At present, they are armed with obsolete Metis and ageing Metis-M anti-tank systems. Due to its relatively high weight, 9K135 Kornet ATGM could hardly be airdropped and transported by dismounted airborne troops. Hence, Metis-M1 will allow the VDV eliminating of modern MBTs on the modern battlefield.

It should be noted that Kornet-E/EM and Metis-M1 are demanded at the global arms market. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute`s (SIPRI) arms transfers database, Russia has supplied Kornet-E ATGMs to Algeria (5,300 missiles), Azerbaijan (100 missiles), Eritrea (80 missiles), Greece (1,100 missiles), India (3,000 missiles), Iraq (300 missiles), Jordan (2,000 missiles and 200 launchers), Morocco (100 missiles), Peru (288 missiles), Sudan (100 missiles), Syria (2,500 missiles), Turkey (800 missiles and 80 launchers) and Uganda (1,000 missiles). Bahrein has become the launch customer for Kornet-EM, having ordered 100 missiles in 2014. In 2014, Namibia ordered 100 Kornet-E ATGMs.

Metis-M/M1 ATGM systems have been supplied to Algeria (500 missiles), Bangladesh (1,200 missiles), Hungary (2,100 missiles), Malaysia (100 missiles), South Korea (2,700 missiles) and Syria (500 missiles).