The Stugna-P (Skif) is a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system developed in the 2010s by the Luch Design Bureau. Its guidance device (??-?) is developed and manufactured by Belarusian design bureau Peleng based in Minsk. Skif is the Ukrainian word for Scythian and Stuhna (Stugna) is the name of a local river. The Skif is designed to destroy modern armored targets with combined carried or monolithic armor, including explosive reactive armor (ERA). Skifs can attack both stationary and moving targets. They can attack from both long range (up to 5 km in the daytime) and close range (100m). They can attack point targets such as weapon emplacements, lightly armored objects, and hovering helicopters.
The Skif consists of a tripod, missile container, PDU-215 remote control panel, guidance device, and thermographic camera (thermal imager). The PDU-215 control panel is a briefcase-like laptop computer with a control panel, holding a small joystick and a flat-panel display, that is connected to the firing unit by a cable, allowing it be used at distances up to 50 metres away. Two firing modes are available: manual, and fire-and-forget. Fire-and-forget provides automatic control of the missile flight using a targeting laser beam. A three to four-person team is optimal for deploying the Skif. The Skif’s system has a shelf life of 15 years. The missiles have a 10-year shelf life.
Operators require specially-made backpacks. Once the missile is fired, the operator controls the Skif and corrects the aim when needed, by using the joystick on the remote control. The system comes complete with 130 mm and 152 mm caliber missiles in transport and launching containers. Tandem charge high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) RK-2S warheads might be able to counter medium weight main battle tanks such as the T-90A with penetration of 800 mm behind ERA. RK-2M-K warheads might be able to counter heavy main battle tanks such as M1A2 Abrams with their penetration of 1100 mm behind ERA. The system also includes high explosive (HE) fragmentation RK-2OF and RK-2?-OF warheads to attack infantry positions and light armored vehicles.
The missile system was used during the pre-2022 Russo-Ukrainian War by Ukrainian forces following first deliveries in 2018. However, it gained wider prominence against Russian Army forces during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine beginning in February alongside anti-tank systems provided by NATO countries such as the FGM-148 Javelin (US), NLAW (UK), and Panzerfaust 3 (Germany). On April 5, 2022, Ukrainian forces used the missile system to down a Russian Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopter. As the war has moved to the Donbas and fighting has changed from wooded areas to open plains, the missile has been fitted to light vehicles to make it mobile. The Stugna-P is being used in the same way US forces used the TOW missile system in the 1980s and the Gulf War Desert Patrol Vehicle.
