Recently published by TyskNIP photos reveal that russian invasion forces deployed 9P148 Konkurs anti-tank missile systems on BRDM-2 chassis among other weapons they used for assaults on Ukrainian positions near the city of Vuhledar in winter-spring 2023.
These vehicles have been used in Ukraine very seldom. Here we can only estimate thanks to the data provided by the Oryx OSINT community that says only three of these systems were lost during the all-out invasion starting February 2022, one of those vehicles was captured intact by Ukrainians. For a relatively close-fight vehicle to be lost only that many times shows how uncommon it is to meet one on the battlefield, so we should analyze their alleged participation in the assault on Vuhledar closely.
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According to The Military Balance 2022, there were only 66 units of 9P148 Konkurs in the russian armed forces, specifically in service with naval infantry units. The data was relevant for the beginning of 2022.
At the same time, nothing was mentioned on the number of these vehicles in storage, there could be two equally possible reasons: either there is no credible data on that matter or russians just did not put any in reserve. The latter seems logical since the serial production of 9M113 missiles used by these systems started back in 1970 which means many of the missiles might have reached their end of service life and caused a shortage of ammunition for these specialized vehicles.
Based on the assumption that 9P148 Konkurs were used by none other than russian marines during the battles for Vuhledar, this perfectly aligns with the publicly available reports from Ukraine and independent sources. In particular, from these reports, we know that russians deployed the 155th and the 40th brigades of the Navy's Pacific Fleet. Quite possibly, both these brigades used Konkurs missile systems simultaneously during these battles.
Defense Express suggests that 9P148 Konkurs could have been used for eliminating Ukrainian firing points which Ukrainians quickly set up near the city while implementing the maneuver warfare tactics. But apparently, Konkurs had little to no impact on the outcome because TOS-1A Solntsepyok and Mi-28 helicopters with scarce LMUR missiles turned out much more notable during the Vuhledar operation.
Read more: How Ukraine’s Troops Defeated russians Near Vuhledar Despite the Enemy Has Tank Trawls, TOS-1 MLRS and Modern Attack Helicopters
