Forbes: Ukraine’s anti-tank missiles still outshoot drones in Kursk combat

Despite widespread drone footage, Ukrainian forces rely on ATGMs and mines, using FPVs to finish off disabled armor.

Dec 13, 2024 - 13:00

Forbes: Ukraine’s anti-tank missiles still outshoot drones in Kursk combat

forbes ukraine's anti-tank missiles still outshoot drones kursk combat russian btr-82a 155th marine brigade destroyed 15 2024 oblast russian-btr-82a-kursk despite widespread drone footage ukrainian forces rely atgms mines using fpvs

Ukrainian anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and mines, not drones, are responsible for the majority of Russian armored vehicle losses in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Forbes reports.

Forbes says that Russian forces have lost approximately 100 vehicles around Zeleny Shylakh in recent weeks as they’ve escalated their attacks on the 650 km² Ukrainian salient in Russia’s Kursk Oblast that has been captured since August.

A Ukrainian marine corps drone operator, identified as Kriegsforscher, revealed that in recent fighting, most Russian vehicles were first immobilized by mines or anti-tank guided missiles such as the American-made Javelin or Ukrainian Stuhna-P, with FPV drones only engaging afterward.

“It’s very funny to see how everyone thinks that FPVs rule the way,” Kriegsforscher wrote on X, noting that in his sector, the Russian 237th Guards Airborne Assault Regiment lost 17 armored vehicles in two days of assaults ending on 12 December.

According to Kriegsforscher, only “10 to 15 percent of [armored vehicles] were destroyed by FPVs – I mean, during the move.”

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