What is Russia's UR-77 System Saving Lives on Battlefield?

UR-77 "Meteorite" is a Soviet-era self-propelled rocket mine clearance system that has been deployed by the Russian military in the special operation in Ukraine.

This miracle of engineering has been repeatedly used by Airborne Forces engineers to solve combat missions, and experience has shown that the UR-77 is equally effective against enemy fortifications.

The vehicle is based on the 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer platform and is currently operated by the Engineering Brigade of the Russian Army.

Also dubbed the Zmey Gorynych (a human with traits of a dragon), the UR-77 has played a key role in saving the lives of hundreds of Russian troops by clearing areas rigged with land mines by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's soldiers.

Primarily built to navigate minefields on the battlefield, the UR-77 follows a unique method of clearing mines from areas that were occupied by enemy forces.

A single unit of UR-77 is equipped with a launcher, two detonating charges, as well as extractor rockets, which together form the mine-clearing-line system.

First, the vehicle sets a launchpad on the front line before using the mine-clearing-line system to good effect.

Once launched, the UR-77 fires a detonating charge at the required distance, which is then stretched by an extractor rocket.

Subsequently, the detonating charge extends to the extent that it navigates over the minefield.

Furthermore, the vehicle that can deal with all kinds of mines, including anti-tank ones, and use its mine-clearing line charge feature to take out mines from a range of up to 500 meters.

Remarkably, this whole operation only takes three minutes to be executed.

However, much to the surprise of many Western military watchers, Russia has deployed the combat vehicle to dismantle enemy fortifications.

The vehicle can be used to throw approximately 1.5 tons of explosives not only on a minefield, but on fortifications of the enemy, completely wiping them out from the battlefield map.

Russia employed the UR-77 combat vehicle for this same purpose in its successful operation in Syria, where it gave Syrian forces an upper hand while fighting rebels, especially on the streets of highly-populated urban centers and cities.

Officially, Russia has never provided details about the production cost of the UR-77 vehicles.

These mine-clearing systems have not been sold to any foreign country to arrive at an estimated cost of a single unit of the platform.