The Ukrainian Defense Forces are equipped with Soviet-made anti-aircraft gun-missile systems (ZRPK) 2S6 "Tunguska," which can be considered direct predecessors to the German "flak tanks" Gepard in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Military Balance 2023 report claims that at the beginning of last year, our military had 75 "Tunguskas," and this number may even exceed the quantity of Gepards already received. Additionally, an interesting detail is that Soviet "Tunguskas" are also used to shoot down Russian "Shaheds," although mentions of this are rare.
An example of such a rare mention can be found in a report from the press service of the Ground Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which discusses the specific use of the ZRPK 2S6 "Tunguska" in countering enemy kamikaze drones.
What stands out here is that this is essentially the first official material from our military regarding the deployment of "Tunguskas" in our country’s air defense system since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. This leads to a logical conclusion that the combat performance results of the 2S6 "Tunguska" systems are reflected in the statistics from the Ground Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine concerning the downing of enemy aerial targets.
The report featured a vehicle marked with indications of two downed "Shaheds." This detail generally allows us to discuss the use of "Tunguskas" in the fight against Shahed-136/131, but it does not reveal data about the significance of these systems for our air defense.
From the aforementioned report, we can note, in particular, how labor-intensive the process of target detection and tracking is on the Soviet 2S6 "Tunguska," and the burden this places on the vehicle's crew, which consists of four individuals.
Additionally, a noteworthy statement from one of the servicemen in the report highlighted that if the battery personnel demonstrate consistently good efficiency, this could potentially lead to a transition to more modern and therefore more effective equipment in the future.
Another specific detail worth mentioning in that report is that although the "Tunguska" has eight launchers for the 9M311 guided anti-aircraft missiles, only four were mounted on the vehicle, which may indicate a shortage of missiles of this type.
It should also be noted that the 2S6 "Tunguska" is armed with two 30mm 2A38 anti-aircraft guns, with an ammunition load of 1936 rounds. The effective range against aerial targets for the 2S6 "Tunguska" with guns is up to 4 kilometers, and with the use of anti-aircraft missiles, it is up to 8 kilometers.