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Drone-killer ATGM claim may prove an empty boast

8th March 2021 - 12:00 GMT | by Leonid Nersisyan in Moscow

RSS

How realistic is the idea of developing an anti-tank missile that can also shoot down UAVs?

The Russian Instrument Design Bureau (KBP, part of Rostec Corporation) says it is developing the first multi-purpose ATGM capable of targeting and shooting down UAVs — but there are grounds for treating this claim with scepticism.

Certain types of ATGMs are capable of engaging large and slow-moving aerial targets with a sufficient thermal signature, such as helicopters. However, no military in the world is known to possess anti-tank systems that can effectively also function as MANPADS against small low-contrast targets in the thermal spectrum, such as UAVs.

‘KBP has begun development of new ATGMs,’ Bekhan Ozdoyev, industrial director of the

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