Military expert Andrey Tarasenko said that the KBP (Konstruktorskoe Buro Priborostroeniya) Instrument Design Bureau is developing new self-propelled anti-tank missile carrier able to counter modern America’s M1 Abrams and German Leopard-2 main battle tanks.

Since 2013, the KBP Instrument Design Bureau is developing a new long-range anti-tank missile system called the Kornet-D1. The Russian tank hunter is based on tracked chassis of the BMD-4M airborne combat vehicle.

Is expected that in 2018 the Russian Airborne Troops to receive first Kornet-D1 tank hunter to increase their ability to combat modern tanks on the battlefield.

The new tank hunter will able to destroy advanced and modern tanks fitted with explosive reactive armour, light-armoured vehicles, and fortifications. It is a simple and low-cost anti-tank missile system which has a range a range of up to 10 km.

Kornet-D1 is a laser-beam-riding system with a ‘fire-and-forget’ (*according to a press release of the KBP Instrument Design Bureau) capability that can penetrate explosive reactive armour and then penetrate 1,100-1,300 mm of conventional armour.

It is capable of launching a salvo of two missiles less than a second apart, either at a single target or at two different targets simultaneously. The two-missile salvo is intended to either defeat active protection systems or to ensure a single tank’s destruction in the absence of an active protection system.

Kornet-D1 missile carrier can fire in day/night conditions, in adverse weather conditions and when enemy uses countermeasures.

The appearance of a new Kornet-D1 self-propelled anti-tank missile carrier on the arsenal of the Russian army is a real threat to the armored units of the NATO countries.