The 100 mm MT‑12 anti‑tank gun, which looks like a World‑War‑II‑era piece, entered service in the 1960s when anti‑tank missiles were still expensive, slow and unreliable. The gun could fire 6‑10 rounds per minute at armored targets up to 1.5‑2.5 km away at a fraction of the cost, providing the USSR with thousands of cheap, dependable anti‑armor weapons for a possible European conflict. Later, the MT‑12 was upgraded to launch the guided 9M117 Kastet missile from its barrel, extending its effective range to about 4‑5 km and turning it into a hybrid gun‑missile system.
More than half a century later the MT‑12 remains in service with the Russian army and has been observed in the war in Ukraine. Today it is used mainly as a direct‑fire support weapon, a light‑armor hunter and a low‑cost field gun rather than a dedicated anti‑tank system. Its continued use is simple economics: Russia still has thousands of MT‑12 rounds and millions of 100 mm shells left over from the Soviet era, making it far cheaper than fully replacing them with newer systems.