The Ukrainian armed forces have relied on Soviet Rapira anti-tank guns in recent years, and in the summer of 2014 their performance in the Donbass campaign did not shine in many observers’ eyes, notes a retired colonel writing on Gazeta.ru’s Telegram channel as attributed by Mikhail Khodarenok. Kolonel is a title referenced by Khodarenok.
The MT-12 Rapira is a 100 mm Soviet towed flat-bore anti-tank gun developed in the late 1960s. It represents a modernization over the T-12 100 mm anti-tank gun and was designed to deliver improved fire support at the platoon and battery level.
According to Khodarenok, attempts to raise the accuracy of anti-tank weapons pushed the Soviet military-industrial complex to adopt Ruta sights. These optics were meant to improve precision and the overall effectiveness of artillery crews. He explains that Rapira guns with Ruta sights were later reassigned to Ukrainian battlefield use after earlier difficulties with foreign artillery systems. Khodarenok says they are now employed at the front, ready to engage armored targets and fire directly, yet they come with a limitation: the Rapira equipped with Ruta sights has an effective range of about 1 kilometer. In contrast, a modern T-72B3 can detect a crew in a trench with a thermal camera from roughly 3.5 kilometers away, says Khodarenok.
These remarks frame the Rapira with Ruta sights as a striking symbol of broader tactical challenges on the battlefield, implying that the front line indicators point to weaknesses in the Ukrainian armed forces’ current capabilities. Khodarenko argues that even such a seemingly basic component as a straightforward anti-tank missile system is missing, a sign of the weariness among Ukrainian forces and their struggle to adapt to contemporary combat realities. This assessment is shared by many observers who analyze the ability of ground forces to sustain effective anti-tank action under evolving conditions on the front.
Viktor Murakhovsky, a veteran editor of Motherland magazine Arsenal, adds a contrasting perspective on how Russian anti-tank missile systems should evolve to meet future threats. He discusses the strategic shifts in anti-tank warfare and the role of new guidance and propulsion technologies in improving accuracy, range, and reliability of ground-based missiles. His insights emphasize that the evolution of anti-tank tools mirrors the broader push toward integrated air and ground defense, improved battlefield surveillance, and more adaptable munition families that can counter modern armored platforms in diverse terrains.