Does shed-styled protection save Russian tanks from Ukrainian Stugna ATGM: answer in video

The 33rd Detached Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine showed how they repelled an enemy assault involving several “shed-styled tanks” with the help of Stugna ATGMs. And while this design indeed provides some protection against FPV drones, there were questions about providing additional protection against anti-tank missile systems, Defense Express reports.

After all, such a ‘shed’ is about spaced armouring, which is brought to an absolute point, but still affects the formation and dispersion of the cumulative jet. But the answer to whether the ‘massive grill’ protects against ATGMs was given by the Ukrainian anti-tank system Stugna of the 33rd Detached Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The video, which, according to the soldiers, was filmed in the Kurakhove sector, shows the work of this ATGM on Russian armoured vehicles. And the first to be hit is the 'shed-styled tank'. And one missile with a high explosive warhead was enough for this task.

Moreover, as a result of the Russian ‘shed tank’ being hit, another unit of enemy armoured vehicles began to flee the battlefield, which was also hit in the stern, which caused it to lose momentum, and then finished off. At the same time, the destruction of the ‘shed tanks’ by ATGMs is a stable result, as at the end of the video, the unit hits another such armoured object.

In addition to the destruction of Russian armoured vehicles by the Stugna ATGM, it is worth noting that the system uses a new missile flight algorithm. In particular, it is possible to launch the missile with automatic overrun, which means that the missile flies along a higher trajectory and returns to the reticle after a certain time (7 seconds in the video).

This mode makes it impossible for the missile to hit the ground, which is possible if the ATGM position is in a lowland or on a flat surface, because the missile ‘lands’ immediately after launching for the first 40-50 metres. However, according to the video, this mode is optional, as the second launch, aimed at the final destruction of the targeted enemy tank, took place without it.

It also becomes clear from Ukrainian soldiers' conversations that the Stugna ATGM is supplied not only with a cumulative missile, but also with a high-explosive version of the missile, which is ideal not only for destroying enemy defended positions, but also light armoured vehicles.

Russia started using ‘ shed-styled tanks’ not so long ago. A T-72 tank with such a design was first spotted in April, but since then, this ‘modernisation’ has become widespread in the Russian army. It is about turning tanks into heavy armoured personnel carriers.