The original ground-based Kornet-D system. Photo: Vitaly V. Kuzmin
Russia has developed a new copy of the world-renowned Kornet-D anti-tank guided missile that can be fired from combat drones and attack helicopters, the Sputnik news agency reported on December 18.
An unnamed source in Russia’s military industrial complex told the agency that the new copy of the Kornet is dubbed “X-BPLA”.
“X-BPLA is a new development based on guided missiles from the Kornet-D missile system. It will become part of the armament system of the combat drones, for example, Forpost and Inokhodets, as well as Ka-52 helicopter,” the source said.
According to the source, the missile has had several successful launches off a Ka-52M attack helicopter and off Inokhodets, Forpost and Altius combat drones.
Russian sources released a video showing a recent test during which an Orion combat drone fired the new missile at an aerial target flying four kilometers away. The missile hit the target with high precision.
It’s worth noting that the Kornet-D missile system, which was originally developed for ground vehicles, has a range of up to ten kilometers and can penetrate 1,300 mm of RHA [rolled homogeneous armour] after ERA [explosive reactive armor].
The X-BPLA is only one of several light-weight guided munitions which were developed by Russia in the recent years for its combat drones.
