Anti Tank Missiles

[cabatli_53]

Yes Sir I think so it is Batar Shikan but @ANTIBODY should confirm it

It is BGM-71 TOW AT missile...

 

[Broccoli]

Belarussian "Shershen".
Shershen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Manticore]

Russian MOD Awards $400 Million Worth Vikhr-1 Missile Contract
Posted by News Desk

Russia’s Izhmash arms factory, manufacturer of the legendary Kalashnikov assault rifle, has won a 13 billion ruble (about $400 million) Defense Ministry tender for Vikhr-1 antitank missiles. The order represents one of the “largest state orders in recent years.” Russian news agency Novosti reports. Vikhr is a laser-guided anti-tank missile, used by Russia’s Ka-50 and Ka-52 attack helicopters and Su-25 ground-attack aircraft.

Izhmash is to deliver the Vikhr-1 long-range, supersonic antiarmor missiles by the end of 2015, company CEO Konstantin Busygin said. Izhmash has asked the Russian government for financial assistance to complete its merger with gun-maker Izhmekh, under the Kalashnikov brand. The two companies, both based in the city of Izhevsk, have been experiencing financial difficulties and a sharp drop in production output in recnt years. The Vikhr-1 contract will enable Izhmash to tackle almost all of its financial problems, Busygin said in late May, adding its current debt stands at 3 billion

Russian MOD Awards $400 Million Worth Vikhr-1 Missile Contract - Defense Update - Military Technology & Defense News

 

[Manticore]

New Multi-Purpose Ammo Improves IDF Armor Counter-Insurgency Response
Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW)



The IDF is equipping the Merkava Mk4 deployed along the Gaza strip with M329 High-Explosive/Multi-Purpose (HE/MP) 120mm tank rounds.

The newly developed tank round is based on the perception of using one kind of round against a wide range of targets and scenarios in the modern battlefield, ultimately decreasing the different kinds of tank rounds used before. The fuse of the tank round is programmable after it is loaded in the chamber, enabling the crewmen increased capability in both handling and in accomplishing News Releasetheir goals in all fighting scenarios- against fortifications, urban structures, Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs), as well as, anti-tank and ambush infantry squads.

When used against fortified structures or bunkers, the round effectively penetrates the obstacle before detonating, scattering thousands of deadly fragments inside.

These tanks were also fitted with Trophy active protection systems (APS), following recent attacks by Palestinian Kornet missiles. In a recent missile attack launched early January 2011 the missile penetrated the armor but did cause casualties of further damage to the tank.

Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW) - Defense Update - Military Technology & Defense News

Tank Killer turned into Bunker Buster SRAW-MPV (FMG-172B)

Back in the early 2000s the U.S. Marines pioneered a new concept fielding a low cost, lightweight precision guided anti-tank missile called the FGM-172A Predator. The missile was developed by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT], and was designed to provide the corps’ firepower beyond the range of their unguided SMAW weapons. The missile employed two major advantages – ‘point and shoot’ aiming system and ‘fire and forget’ inertial guidance, enabling quick, simple yet accurate and effective operation. The autonomous guidance compensated with cross-wind and other disturbances with in flight corrections. Another advantage was the ‘soft launch’, enabling firing from enclosure, enabling the warfighter to fire the missile through windows or from the protection of building without wearing special ear protection.

The missile system is delivered as a disposable system, weighing about 9.7kg. (21 lb). To enable this lightweight missile to defeat heavily protected tanks, the missile was designed to engage the target with a shaped-charge ‘Explosively Formed Penetrator’ (EFP) pointed downward, through ‘top attack’, hitting the tank’s most vulnerable upper area. Despite its superior capability the Predator has not been accepted beyond the Marine Corps, as in the U.S. Army did not follow the Marines lead and preferred to remain with the more capable yet expensive Javelin, while considering a new derivative of the unguided Saab AT-4 to enable firing from confined space when operating in built-up area. Lockheed Martin lost another prospect in the U.K., which opted for the Swedish competitor – MBT LAW.

Lockheed Martin produced Responding to an urgent request from warfighters, Lockheed Martin expanded the capabilities of its Predator anti-tank weapon and delivered 400 rounds to the U.S. Marine Corps. The conversion of Predator from a top-down anti-armor weapon to a direct-fire urban assault weapon was prompted by the need for fire-from-enclosure assault weapons, which has become paramount to support combat actions in Iraq. It took the company only six months to come up with the redesign, The program Renamed as the ‘Short-Range Assault Weapon-Multiple Purpose Variant’ (SRAW-MPV) MFG-172B, the Predator evolved into the precursor of today’s ‘urban assault missile’, fitted with a multiple-purpose blast warhead, enabling it to defeat a variety of targets such as buildings and bunkers, as well as light-armored vehicles. For direct attacks the missile flies an unguided, flattened trajectory employed in line-of-sight engagement. Its main advantage is the capability of being firing from confined spaces and improved accuracy up to the missile’s maximum range of 600 meters.

http://defense-update.com/20101231_sraw_mpv.html

ERYX – Personal Anti-Tank Weapon from MBDA

ERYX is a short-range anti-tank weapon developed by MBDA to address specific French Army requirements for a highly portable lightweight, single operator anti-tank weapon that could be used by special forces, paratroops and rapid deployment forces. ERYX employs wire guidance, making it useful against stationary or mobile targets at ranges between 50m to 600m. As an infantry weapon ERYX is more versatile than the Milan, as it can be fired from the shoulder or with a tripod. Yet the weapon is relatively heavy, weighing 17.5 kg including the missile, and firing post (sight). A key advantage provided by the weapon is the ‘soft-launch’ characteristics, enabling firing from confined spaces in urban combat.




Photo: BMDA by Michel Hans


The weapon was recently enhanced with the integration of a new uncooled thermal sight providing augmented range for detection, reconnaissance and identification, at ranges which significantly exceed the combat range of the missile itself. The enhanced version has already obtained its first customer – an unnamed Middle Eastern army was scheduled to get the new system in 2010. According to MBDA more than 57,000 ERYX missiles have been ordered by eight countries including the French Armed Forces.

http://defense-update.com/20101231_eryx_31122010.html

 

[Manticore]

BASIS

 

[Manticore]

The tables below give the penetration figures of the most common German guns used to combat armored vehicles. Armor Penetration Table

ANTI-TANK AMMUNITION TYPES
http://www.panzerworld.com/anti-tank-ammunition

Introduction
Prior to and during the Second World War, many different armor piercing ammunition types were developed, to improve the performance of the basic armor piercing ammunition. The ammunition types described below covers the most used types.

Armor Piercing (AP)
Basic solid steel shot, which use kinetic energy to defeat the armor plate. The shot causes damage by fully or partially penetrating the armor plate, causing steel fragments of the shot and the armor plate to hit crew members, automotive components, ammuntion, fuel tanks, etc.

Armor Piercing, Ballistic Cap (APBC)
To improve aerodymanics, a ballistic cap can be added to the basic armor piercing shot. The cap is made by a brittle metal, which breaks on impact, and does not aid penetration.

Armor Piercing, Capped (APC)
By adding a soft metal cap, the armor piercing shot is turned towards sloped armor, decreasing the relative thickness and the chance of deflection.

Armor Piercing, Capped, Ballistic Cap (APCBC)
A combination of the ballistic cap of APBC and the cap of APC. Note that some APCBC ammunition was only listed as APC.

High Explosive Filler (-HE)
The lethality AP, APBC, APC, and APCBC shots can be increased by adding an explosive filler, intended to explode upon penetrating. This filler will, however, also decrease the strength of the shot, decreasing its ability to defeat the armor plate.

Armor Piercing, Composite, Rigid (APCR) or High Velocity, Armor Piercing (HVAP)
A very dense core, usually made from tungsten during the Second World War and uranium today, in a soft metal shell. Upon impact, the soft shell will deform, causing the core to penetrate the armor plate at very high speeds.

Armor Piercing, Discarding Sabot (APDS)
Similar to the APCR in principle. Rather than a soft shell, however, the thin, long shot discards it shell (sabot) upon leaving the gun barrel.

High Explosive, Anti-tank
Rather than penetrating using kinetic energy, HEAT shot a shaped charges, which forms a concentrated, high-velocity jet of molten metal. This jet melts through the armor plate, spraying the insive with molted metal.

High Explosive
While not intended to destroy tanks, high explosive grenades can damage tanks by throwing their tracks or damaging periscopes and automotive parts, and even crack and destroy armor plates if sufficiently powerful.

 

[Manticore]

Anti-tank Ammunition –
what do all those letters mean?

By Ken Natt

When I was writing up my entry for the scenario competition I found myself glibly referring to APCBC ammunition, and I suddenly thought, “I wonder if anyone knows what the hell I am talking about.” With this in mind I asked a few of our club members (The Hartlepool Wargames Society – no period or scale too weird), and on the whole I got blank looks. So here is a short primer (geddit?) into the specifics of the unpleasantness we have our troops expend downrange at the opposition crawling around in their tin boxes. I will try to keep it simple, so long lectures on muzzle velocity and BHNs are out, but if it does get a bit confusing it is because, well, it is. Sorry.

Carts and horses, or rather guns

Before I go any further it may be useful to explain the way guns are classified, otherwise it may get confusing later. Guns have a calibre and a length expressed as a number of that calibre, so for instance a German 75mm as mounted on an early PzIV or a SdKfz 251\9 is known as a 7.5cm L24 (L for length), the gun barrel is 7.5cm wide, and is 24x7.5cm long. This can also be expressed as 75\24. This gun in FoW is called a “short” 75. As a rule of thumb, longer guns develop more muzzle velocity, so more range and better penetration. Added to this, when a round is travelling faster it gets there quicker, so long guns are also generally more accurate. Finally, big rounds are less effected by cross wind and other environmental factors so also tend to be more accurate.

Back to Basics

In 1939 (which for our American readers is when the war really started) (Ken is English ~ Ed.), there were basically only two views as to what you should shoot tanks with. These were:

AP – Armour Piercing or solid shot. These as the name suggests was simply a hunk of metal that, assuming sufficient velocity was imparted, would punch through the target armour and then ricochet around inside doing unpleasant things to the crew and any other soft or delicate bits.

This was the main anti tank ammunition of the British, and was also used on and off by the other nations, barring the Germans who always used APHE.

British Tank rounds left to right: 2pdr, 6pdr APDS, 75mm (Sherman), 17pdr APDS, 77mm (Comet), 3" and 95mm CS.


It was adequate against soft vehicles as long as it hit something breakable, but pretty much useless against guns and infantry.

APHE – Armour Piercing High Explosive or AP shell. This was a variation on the AP shot theme where the ammunition contained a base fused explosive charge. The idea was that once inside the target the shell would explode, doing more damage than the equivalent solid AP. This works well in theory but has a few practical drawbacks. Firstly, as the explosives and fuse weigh less than the equivalent solid shot, they carry less momentum and so have a proportionally poorer penetration than their solid cousins. The second problem is that the fuse needs to detonate correctly otherwise the explosive value is wasted, and this was a difficult technical problem to solve at the time. Many APHE rounds simply failed to go off. Lastly, as most nations were initially using quite small anti tank rounds of about 37-45mm, the actual amount of explosive inside the shell was pretty minimal. APHE was used by the Germans on guns of over 20mm and Russians on guns of 37mm plus, and also by the US. The Germans, being a methodical race went so far as to employ the idea in their anti tank rifle rounds but replaced the HE with a small phial of tear gas. Unfortunately the amount was so small that no one seems to have noticed. One other advantage of APHE was that it maintained a limited usefulness against infantry and similar targets.

All the above was fine until tanks with thicker and \ or face hardened armour (used only by the Germans) started to appear. The original response was simply to make guns longer, increase muzzle velocities and harden the projectiles, and then physics started to kick. It was discovered that the shock of impact between the shot and the armour was causing the shot to shatter before penetrating. The main quoted culprit seems to have been the poor 2Pdr (40mm L52), although everyone suffered to one extent or another.

A solution was needed, and it came along with: -

APC - Armour Piercing Capped. Here a nose cone (or cap) of softer metal was fixed to the front of the solid shot. When this struck the target armour the shock was transferred away from the tip of the round to the neck, thus helping prevent shatter. An added bonus was that it was found that the softer caps improved “grip” against sloped armour, squashing on impact to allow the main shot to penetrate rather than glancing off. Even better, some felt that as the soft cap vaporised it helped lubricate the main round through. The only problem was that the new nose caps were a ballistic nightmare, being flatter and less streamlined than the uncapped round, so accuracy suffered. This lead to:

APCBC - Armour Piercing Capped Ballistic Capped. This took the APC idea one step further and added a light streamlined false cap over the soft cap, regaining the proper ballistic shape.

This was the end of the line for full calibre AT rounds, but was soon joined by what we would now call sub calibre rounds. Used by Britain, Germany and the US.

Left: APBC in action.

APBC – Armour Piercing Ballistic Capped. This is the Russian equivalent to APCBC. This round had a light ballistic cap covering a blunt nosed projectile. This round was less prone to shatter than a standard AP due to the shape of the nose.

APCR or HVAP – Armour Piercing Composite Rigid or High Velocity Armour Piercing. Different names but the same idea. These rounds were the result of some bright spark working out that you could get more oomph out of an anti tank shot by increasing the density of the penetrating bit (using tungsten) and encasing it in a lighter outer full bore cover. The shape of the round led it to being called “arrow shot” by the Russians. The Germans perfected this with their Panzergranate 40 (PzGr40) round, which they found went through T34s like a hot knife through butter, and with it ruled the battlefield for a couple of months during late 1942, then they ran out of tungsten!

This was less of a problem for the US and USSR, who both continued to use their versions until the war ended. The other drawback with the APCR\HVAP was that the round was lighter than a normal round but still had the same cross section as a result of the cover so these rounds lost velocity over distance faster than normal rounds. This means they lost penetration and accuracy quickly, to the point that you were better off with a “normal” APCBC at anything over 800\1000 yards.

The British took a look at APCR, but thought they could go one better, and produced APDS, (see later) but before we go there, there is one other interesting development that needs looking at, squeeze bores.

APCNR – Armour Piercing Composite Non Rigid. Squeeze bores were another clever idea at getting more velocity from your guns. The barrels narrowed slightly from breach to muzzle, and the sub calibre tungsten shots again had full bore covers, but this time they were thin “skirts”. As the round travelled down the barrel the skirts were squeezed in, more pressure was exerted over the smaller area producing increasing muzzle velocity. There were two types, cone bores and squeeze bores, cone bores had a regular taper for the length of the barrel, squeeze bores only a part was tapered, usually the end. For a while this looked like a great idea, and the Germans deployed several versions, the 28mm being common but the 75mm version was a fantastic performer, then of course the tungsten ran out. The other user was the British, who late in the war fitter a squeeze bore adapter to the 2Pdr (40mmL52), and called it “Littlejohn”. It worked well enough, but by then the only vehicles still left with a 2Pdr were armoured cars and the odd airborne tank, who frankly were not too interested in shooting it out with tanks, even if they could in theory get results. The big drawback with APCNR (apart from the tungsten running out) was that while it produced stellar results against tanks, you needed to reengineer your HE rounds in a similar way or they wouldn’t get down the barrel. This problem meant that Littlejohn equipped Daimler A\Cs could not fire HE, so some units removed the adaptors, possibly the only time anyone thought 2Pdr HE was worth having!

APDS or SVDS – Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (or Super Velocity Discarding Sabot as originally called). Here the tungsten penetrator was encased in a sheath of light metal as in APCR, but with APDS the sheath (sabot – French for shoe – don’t ask just trust me as it gets complicated here) fell apart as the shot left the muzzle, leaving the narrow cross section penetrator with the same high velocities as APCR but without the drag caused by the cover.

APDS was a real tank killer, going farther and faster than any similar anti tank round, and gave some truly spectacular improvements in penetration power, for example when APDS was issued to 6pdr guns for D-Day, it effectively doubled their penetrating power.

Tigers could be killed out to 500 yards and the 17pdr APDS available from August 1944 would go through ANYTHING (just about). There were problems however. Firstly, it was a secret, so not everyone was told how to use it or had time to train with it.

APDS has such a high muzzle velocity that the round gets to the target a lot quicker than standard AP.

The result is that the “aim off” (how far ahead of a moving target you aim to account for the time required for the round to arrive – aka deflection) required is much less. Similarly, the faster moving round had a much flatter trajectory, and as the gun sights did not have a setting for APDS troops had to try and guess both the range and the deflection.

 

[Manticore]

In the heat of battle they often got it wrong and missed. The other problem was with the ammunition itself, which seems to have suffered from bad quality control. In some batches the sabot failed to separate cleanly, which could lead to wild inaccuracies. This seems to have been corrected as the war closed, and APDS in its current versions is still the first choice for anti tank guns today.

HEAT - High Explosive Anti Tank. Last of the true anti tank rounds, HEAT uses the shaped charge principle to create a blowtorch effect that is very good against armour plate, burning through the target and spraying molten metal about inside – very nasty.

During WW2 everyone used HEAT rounds to one extent or another, but there were some problems. Firstly, no-one fully understood the exact science of how shaped charges formed the blowtorch, so although the penetration is in theory proportional to the warhead diameter, in practice it was never quite that simple and performance varied widely. Secondly, it was found that HEAT is best delivered at low velocity to allow the blowtorch to form, so it is not too useful for tanks which have long guns designed to maximise muzzle velocity. For these reasons you tend to find HEAT warheads in the hands of the infantry (Bazookas, Panzerfausts, PIATs etc) or with artillery units.

The Germans used a lot of HEAT rounds and were probably the first to use them, but found that the troops issued with them were none too happy because having a relatively slow round meant less accuracy, so about 600 yards seems to be about maximum engagement range with any chance of a hit. Another less publicised problem with HEAT rounds was that they could cause relatively little damage inside unless they penetrated cleanly and hit something flammable.
The Russians called the spot where a Panzerfaust hit but did not get all the way through a “witches kiss”, as it would leave a small spot of burnt paintwork on the inside.

HE – High Explosive. Not strictly an anti tank round, but still worth a mention. Tanks are designed to withstand HE hits, but if you get a direct hit from a heavy round then you can have drastic results. Probably the main exponents of this approach were the Soviets, who not only issued every gun with some form of anti tank round, they were also happy to shoot HE at tanks. 152mm HE will spoil any ones day.

Availability

The special tungsten rounds were never widely available.

Tanks would have only a few APCR\HVAP\APDS rounds on board, if any, the vast majority would be either AP/APHE or APCBC\APBC.

This was exacerbated in US service by the Tank Destroyer units getting first pick, so although the TDs should have it available by 1944, having even one or two rounds in US tanks should be rare even in the late period.

Soviet 45mm AT rounds, APBC (Top) and APCR (Bottom)

After 1943 the Germans had very few rounds left, although there are stories of crews being issued with one or two rounds when JS2s were expected.

The Russians seem to have rationed their “arrows” to 4 per tank. I can’t find any info on APDS availability for British units, and although there seems to have been plenty of 6pdr APDS for the anti tank batteries (and some of it made its way into US hands for use in their 57mm AT gun)

Anti-tank Ammunition

 

[Manticore]

Serbia's indigenously developed PORS (Protivoklopni Raketni Sistem) Bumbar short-range antitank missile system is expected to complete its service-acceptance tests by the end of 2013.


The small metal object between the legs of this Bumbar firing post is the new optical unit developed for the definitive version. (Miroslav Gyürösi)
Working under a low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract, the Krusik Holding Corporation from Valjevo built an initial batch of systems in 2012-13. This batch has now been completed and, according to Serbian internet sources, 50 missiles have been delivered.

The basic system delivered during this LRIP phase consists of a 136 mm POVR (Protivoklopna Vodjena Raketa) missile in a transporting-launching container, the UVL (Uredzay za Vodzenye i Lansiranye) firing post, and a tripod or bipod mount.


Bumbar antitank missile to finish acceptance tests in 2013
Bumbar antitank missile to finish acceptance tests in 2013 - IHS Jane's 360

 

[farhan_9909]

In dec 2010 Pak army tested a new ATGM though having enhanced range and Automatic guidense than the older Baktar shikan with just 3km range and wire guided

 

[babajees]

I was watching these Tank Blowing compilation videos from Syria
Can someone explain me how they are propelled? They seemed to be slow + moving everywhere before hitting (accurately I must say) and blowing the tank.

It was funny how they moved, ziggy zag. Why is that, shouldn't they go straight? I presume most of these were russian (since captured from Syrian Army by the FSA)?

 

[babajees]

Just a tank hit video.. Spectacular.. although in this, the missile seemed to go straight and didnt "glow"

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=294258387253039

This is what I am talking about, see this video after 0:40

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1...-missile-blowing-up-a-tank_news?search_algo=2

or this:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.********.com/ll_embed?f=4994d0e8d8e6" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[babajees]

No explanation?

 

[Hakan]

 

[RAMPAGE]

In that case,a Pakistani version of Hellfire is coming soon...with millimeter radar guidance...

Any updates ???