The results of the conference convinced the Russian Minister of Defense to stop procuring tanks with gas-turbine engines. Further, the analysis disclosed Chechen anti-armor tactics and the vulnerabilities of Russian armored vehicles in urban combat. The Chechen forces are armed with Soviet and Russian-produced weapons, and most Chechen fighters served in the Soviet Armed Forces. 4 Additional personnel serve as ammunition bearers and assistant gunners. The sniper and machine gunner would pin down the supporting infantry while the antitank gunner would engage the armored target.
Teams deploy at ground level, in second and third stories, and in basements.
Normally five or six hunter-killer teams simultaneously attack a single armored vehicle. Kill shots are generally made against the top, rear and sides of vehicles. Chechens also drop bottles filled with gasoline or jellied fuel on top of vehicles. The Chechen hunter-killer teams try to trap vehicle columns in city streets where destruction of the first and last vehicles will trap the column and allow its total destruction. 6 Initial Russian vehicle losses were due to a combination of inappropriate tactics, underestimation of the opposing force, and a lack of combat readiness.