(Stugna-P image). Development of the Skif missile began in the mid-2000s by the Luch Design Bureau, but it was not until 2011 that this missiles were purchased by the Ukrainian Army under designation “Stugna-P“. Since then the Skif missile has been commercialized in the international market while the Stugna-P has been manufactured for the Ukrainian Army. The system consists of a missile (inside a container tube), the guidance unit, a thermal imager, a tripod (launcher) and the PDU-215 remote control panel. System components are carried by 3 or 4 operators in specially designed backpacks.(Skif image). The Stugna-P / Skif is a missile designed to attack protected targets as well as armored vehicles, including those equipped with ERA (explosive reactive armor) both day and night and in all weather condition thanks to its thermal imager. The system has two firing modes, a manual one in which the operator must direct the missile to the target, keeping it inside the crosshair until the missile hits, and another automatic mode of the “fire and forget” type where the missile is directed to the target without the operator’s participation through a targeting laser beam. The automatic firing mode is especially effective for carrying out ambushes, allowing the anti-tank team to remain covered from the response of the attacked forces.(Stugna-P image). Stugna-P / Skif anti-tank missiles comes in two different calibers, 130 and 152mm, and each with two available warheads. The 130mm missile comes in a 1.36 x 0.14 meter container and weighs 30 kg, has a maximum range of 5 km by day and 3 km by night. This missile has two different 8 kg warheads, the “RK-2OF” HE-fragmentation (600 fragments) capable of penetrating 60mm of armor (RHA) and the “RK-2S” HEAT tandem-charge capable of penetrating 800mm of armor (RHA) behind ERA armor. The 152mm missile comes in a 1.43 x 0.16 meter container and weighs 37 kg, has a maximum range of 5.5 km by day and 3 km by night. This missile has two different 8 kg warheads, the “RK-2М-OF” HE-fragmentation (1,000 fragments) capable of penetrating 120mm of armor (RHA) and the “RK-2M-K” HEAT tandem-charge capable of penetrating 1,100mm of armor (RHA) behind ERA armor. The missile has a speed of about 700 km/h (200 m/s).(Skif image). The guidance unit (PN-S) of the Skif missile was manufactured by the Belarusian company Peleng Design Bureau until 2014, when the Donbass crisis broke out. However, the guidance unit (PN-I) of the Stugna-P missile is of Ukrainian manufacture. Since 2018 both missiles use the PN-I guidance unit, which facilitates their production. The guidance device mounts to the tripod/launcher and is linked to an SLX-Hawk thermal imaging camera. The PDU-215 control panel consists of a flat screen display, which shows target tracking, and a small joystick to direct the missile in manual firing mode, all inserted in a 10 kg briefcase-like laptop computer. This remote unit is connected to the firing unit by a cable, and allows missile control from a maximum distance of 50 meters.(Stugna-P image). The missile entered service with the Ukrainian Army in 2011, with an initial order for 50 launchers. The Stugna-P / Skif has been exported to a dozen countries such as Saudi Arabia (30 launchers and 200 RK-2S missiles), Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Myanmar, Azerbaijan and Georgia among others. Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, all exports of Stugna-P / Skif missiles have been halted and handed over to the Ukrainian Army. This can be verified in the broadcast of different videos where the PDU-215 control panels have been seen with Arabic letters instead of Cyrillic.(Stugna-P image). The Stugna-P had its baptism of fire during the 2014 clashes between the Ukrainian Army and separatists in the Donbass area. Despite having only a few launchers and barely a few dozen missiles, the effectiveness of this weapon was so spectacular that the Ukrainian government ordered its mass production in 2015. It is estimated that no less than 7,000 missiles have been delivered by the year 2021.(Stugna-P image). It is known that at least a hundred Stugna-P launchers have been equipped with Turkish Aselsan EYE-LR S thermal cameras. These cameras can identify targets during the day up to 15 km away, being able to identify vehicles up to 6 km and people up to 2.5 km at night. Ukrainian units have created some improvised anti-tank missile carrier (ATMC) vehicles by installing single or double launchers on APCs and light buggies to provide mobility for their anti-tank teams.(Stugna-P image). Ukraine has created the Barrier anti-tank system in which the Stugna-P missile has been integrated into BMP-1M, BTR-3E1 and BTR-4E armored vehicles, Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters, even in gunboats. Lethality of the Stugna-P / Skif is confirmed in a multitude of videos shared on social networks and the media where it can be seen how they destroy lots of Russian tanks such as T-72B3, T-80U even T-90. There is even a confirmed shot down of a Ka-52 Alligator combat helicopter.(Stugna R-111 image). There is a variant of the Stugna-P missile to be fired from 100mm anti-tank guns like those on the T-55 tanks or the MT-12 Rapira/Ruta towed guns called “Stugna R-111 (round comprising anti-tank guided missile)”. This missile was developed during the 1990s and it was the base on which the current Stugna-P has been created. This gun fired missile has a length of 1.196 meters and weighs 24.5kg, its range is 5km and it has a semi-automatic guidance system by laser beam. It features a tandem-hollow charge warhead capable of penetrating 550mm of RHA behind ERA armor.(Stugna-P image). At the beginning of 2020 the Ukrainian firms Luch Design Bureau and Techno Export together with the Turkish Aselsan developed the SERDAR stabilized remote controlled weapon station (RCWS) that carries two to four 130 or 152mm missiles together with 12.7 or 7.62mm machine guns, in fact, at the beginning of 2020 joint venture was established in Turkey for the manufacture of Skif missiles. In addition, there is also the Belarusian Shershen anti-tank missile, which uses many of the components of the Stugna-P / Skif including the warheads, although it carries a different guidance system.
