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2018-11-08
ATGMs: The Nemesis of Modern Tanks
In being designed to destroy heavily armoured military vehicles, today’s Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) require a solid anti-armour system for successful combat, one including anti-tank units as its basic element.
A long-ranged and stunningly accurate ATGM equipped with a warhead capable of penetrating all but the best composite armour will thus strike fear in the heart of every tank crew. Indeed according to a recent study conducted by “Defence Procurement Analysts”, the Anti-Tank Guided Missiles market is set to grow to $14bn by 2028.
Historical Anti-Aircraft Beginnings
ATGMs date back to World War II where, in being assailed by superior forces, Germany was desperate for an anti-aircraft weapon. They developed the X-4 air-to-air missile as the first of its class and then a secondary ATGM design concept, which, owing to problems, never entered service.
Nonetheless, the idea lived on and France soon developed the SS.10 missile, entering service in 1955 and followed by the first ATGMs ranging up to 2000 metres. However, these missiles were steered via attached wires, meaning that they had to remain within the operator’s line-of-sight.
The second generation arrived in the 1970’s with superior warheads and now requiring operators only to keep the sights on the target. The ubiquitous helicopter-carried Hellfire was one of the first of this class.
ATGM Performance Today
The most recent generation of ATGMs are “fire-and-forget” weapons, entailing that the operator need only lock the missile’s laser, infrared or radar sensors on the target for the missile to hone-in on the target, although this makes it more vulnerable to countermeasures. These missiles now give infantry soldiers the capability to defeat light and medium-armour tanks from long range, even if main battle tanks (MBTs) are still quite resistant to them.
Epitomised by the U.S. Javelin, ATGMs have evolved to become more compact and easier to carry with each using a lightweight and very effective High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead. Here, a small “spike” protrudes from the tip, allowing its shaped explosive charge to detonate before reaching the target, so enabling the warhead to form a superheated jet of molten metal capable of slashing through all but the strongest armour.
HEAT warheads were once believed to make tank armour useless against all but small arms fire, although the Soviet T-64 main battle tank shifted this paradigm by introducing composite armour. Originally pioneered in the United States, the T-64 was the first widespread tank to use armour consisting of a steel layer, a hard plastic layer, and another layer of steel.
The HEAT warheads would first penetrate the steel layer but then shatter the plastic and lose so much energy that the second steel layer would stop it. Now, aside from vehicle and aircraft-mounted missile systems, the size of anti-tank guided missiles vary from shoulder-launched weapons transportable by a single soldier to larger tripod-mounted weapons requiring a squad to transport and fire.
Global ATGM Usage
ATGMs were initially adopted in Europe, but China, South Korea and India in the Asia-Pacific and the North American region have now followed, reflecting growing military expenditure. As of 2017, they were used by more than 130 countries, while the ground-based man-portable ATGM is now expected to lead the market in the coming five years.
The leading companies developing ATGMs include Lockheed Martin Corporation, Raytheon Company, Saab Group, MBDA, KBP Instrument Design Bureau, General Dynamics Corporation, Roketsan A.S., Denel SOC Ltd and BAE Systems. The following is a guide to the ATGMs currently available in the market-place.
Javelin Weapon System
Javelin is one of the most versatile and lethal one-man-portable, anti-tank, guided munition and surveillance weapon systems, produced by the Javelin joint venture between Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin. A premier light infantry surveillance and anti-armour weapon system, Javelin is easy-to-use offering enhanced situational awareness and demonstrated lethality against a wide array of targets (armoured vehicles, bunkers, and caves).
Javelin is combat proven at a 94 per cent reliability rate and can be deployed from multiple platforms for use in all-weather, day-or-night operations. In being scheduled for inventory until 2050, the Javelin programme now demonstrates remote launchers for ground vehicles.
High Precision PARS 3 LR
PARS 3 LR is a high precision fire-and-forget weapon system for the engagement of mobile and stationary targets, including buildings, bunkers and other high-value targets. Its fire-and-forget capability enables the platform system to leave its position immediately after firing the missile ensuring that platform and crew are exposed to the enemy’s reconnaissance and counter-action for a minimal amount of time.
With the precision and effectiveness of the missile ensured over the entire firing range, the PARS 3 LR is the main armament for the German Army’s Tiger helicopter. The German Army is indeed due to receive what is currently the most high-performance fire-and-forget guided missile system for precision strikes against high-value stationary and moving targets.
The fire-and-forget system allows the helicopter to quit its position immediately after firing a missile, thereby limiting to the absolute minimum its exposure to the threat of retaliation. Salvo firing then permits the engagement of various targets at the same time while the technical lay-out design of the PARS 3 LR enables unambiguous target identification, target designation and highly precise effects against a large target spectrum.
The PARS 3 LR system simultaneously assures maximum protection for both helicopter and crew. With manufacture of the PARS 3 LR for the German Army being carried out by PARSYS, a joint venture between MBDA Germany and Diehl BGT Defence, the weapon is already generating significant interest in the export market.
Man-in-the-Loop Milan ER
The combat-proven Milan weapon system has been selected by over 40 international customers for land combat forces specifically involved in sustained and demanding close combat operations.
Milan ER combines precision and versatility to address static or moving modern battlefield threats, including the most heavily armed tanks, fortifications and infrastructures.
It is suitable for both urban and open terrain thanks to Man-in-the-Loop (MITL) operation for avoidance of collateral damage and friendly fire, while complying with ever-complex rules of engagement.
Hornet Replaces Kornet
The Shershen (“Hornet”) is the Belarussian variant of the Ukrainian Skif, although the Skif and the Shershen have slightly different applications. The Shershen can defeat tanks and fortifications at ranges comparable to the Russian Kornet, utilising a tandem configuration where two 130 mm missiles are installed side-by-side on a single pivoting mount.
The Shershen-D is suited for light vehicles and armoured personnel carriers, and even offshore and riverine vessels, while the Shershen-Q is deployed by a vehicle similar to the Kornet-D. The Shershen “complex” is hence composed of a collapsible tripod, a box-shaped control system, a launcher rail, launch tube and a command launch unit combining TV guidance and modular thermal sights.
In Belarus, the Shershen is armed with two types of missile - the RK-2S with a tandem HEAT warhead and the RK-20F fragmentation round for defeating soft-skinned vehicles. The RK-2S’ penetration is sufficient to disable current-generation main battle tanks at a maximum range of 5000 metres against stationary targets and 5500 metres against mobile ones.
In contrast, Shershen’s 152 mm P-2B missile stretches to an impressive 7500 metres with a 1100 mm penetration against rolled homogenous steel and explosive reactive armour. Like the Skif, the Shershen is fired manually, but by using a portable control panel in a specially designed suitcase, the operator can remotely launch and direct the Shershen from distances up to 100 metres away via a cable locking the control panel to the launcher.
The RK-2S has an added stealth feature for its in-flight elevation above the line of sight, enabling the missile to rise ten metres above the Shershen’s laser beam to avoid terrain obstacles and detection. For instance, if aimed at a tank the missile descends as it nears the target and strikes at the space between the turret and the hull.
Belarus has completed development work on the Shershen-M system, a new vehicle-mounted ATGM using Ukrainian RK-2 and RK-3 variants and featuring a quadruple launcher for four different Luch ATGM variants launched simultaneously (the RK-2, RK-2V, B-2M and the RK-3). The anti-tank system also includes a telescopic mast with a dual-axis combined observation and missile guidance package (the 1K118P).
The Kornet “Spriggan”
The Kornet-E ATGM was codenamed Spriggan by NATO after the small Scottish rock goblin with the ability to inflate itself to giant size. It is a vehicle-mounted or portable system designed to engage tanks fitted with explosive reactive armour, lightly armoured vehicles, fortifications, hovering helicopters, while pinpointing surface targets all-weather day or night, and performing in electronic and optical countermeasures environments.
Weighing 30 kilograms and easily managed by two people, the Kornet system enables one person to detect a target, aim and fire a missile, then tracking and defeating the target. The missiles can be dropped on the ground and without special storage conditions, entailing that the Kornet is deployed within one minute to penetrate more than a metre of steel or reactive armour on all main battle tanks including the M1A2 Abrams, AMX-56 Leclerc, Challenger 2 and Merkava Mk3.
The Kornet’s all-weather anti-jamming laser guidance and infrared sight makes the launch difficult to spot, hitting targets at a range of 3 kilometres at night and 5 kilometres in daylight. Moreover, the Kornet-E launcher is folded into a compact travelling position, with its thermal sight placed in a pack device, while the modular-designed launcher can be bracketed on to a wide range of wheeled and tracked vehicles.
Lethal MMP
MBDA’s production of its 5th-gen MMP medium-range ATGM is for delivery to the French Armed Forces where, next year, it will replace the French Milan and Javelin missiles. In allowing engagement of a broad target set, it utilises rapid into-action times, Lock-on-Before-Launch and Fire-and-Forget modes, alongside Lock-after-Launch and Man-in-the-Loop engagements for collaterally sensitive scenarios.
MMP offers 4,000+ metre range and precision to defeat the target beyond counter fire ranges. It is being integrated onto multiple vehicles and turrets to provide an ideal solution for modern armies, as demonstrated in the LAND 400 and LAND 4108 Australian defence programmes.
Its dual mode seeker, uncooled infrared and visible colour channels engage wide-ranging targets. Low thermal contrast and a fibre-optic data link then make it possible to maintain “man-in-the-loop” engagement of 3rd-party-designated targets outside the sight of the launch platform.
The missile’s multi-purpose anti-tank, anti-personnel and anti-structure package can defeat targets ranging from heavy tanks with reactive armour to entrenched infantry. MMP has validated all performance requirements through 20 test firings and ground tests, involving deployment in extreme environment and temperature conditions, firing in confined spaces, shooting under infra-red and colour TV guidance at extreme long-range targets (4,100 metres) and warhead versatility against varied targets.
NLAW – The Next-Gen Killer
NLAW is a top-attack, fire-and-forget single-soldier missile developed by Saab AB and manufactured by Thales in Belfast. This Next-Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW) is now shoulder-launched, with its Overfly Top Attack and anti-tank missile system ensuring that it is the tried-and-tested tank killer for light forces operating dismounted in all environments.
NLAW attacks tanks from above combining the simplicity of light anti-armour weapons with the advantages of heavy, crew-operated guided missile systems. A single soldier can therefore destroy a heavily protected modern Main Battle Tank with only one shot at a range of 20-800 metres.
The NLAW has Selectable Overfly Top Attack (OTA) against armoured targets and Direct Attack (DA) against non-armoured targets, such as enemy troops inside buildings. What is more, PLOS (Predicted Line of Sight) guidance and OTA deliver easy handling, accuracy and high kill probability.
Multi-Mission BILL 2
The BILL 2 is an overfly, top-attack anti-tank missile system combating both moving and static targets up to 2200 metres. Its wire-guided missile is immune to jamming and attacks the weakest part of the target from above, while requiring no lock-on or cooling down time before launch to ensure very short reaction times.
Light and man-portable, the BILL 2 can also be vehicle configured with a high mission capability for all terrains, defeating anything from MBTs to lightly armoured combat vehicles and secondary targets. Currently used by four nations, the missile is operated by a two-man crew in ground action, but to increase target flexibility it can be launched in three modes to defeat anything from MBTs to lightly armoured combat vehicles and secondary targets across any terrain.
The basic mode employs OTA where two interactive, dynamically compensated, vertically striking shaped charges attack the MBT from above, striking down through the turret roof to avoid the heavily protected frontal arc. Here, the fuze system consists of both a dual-sensor proximity fuze and an impact fuze.
BILL 2 gives soldiers the ability to detect, recognise and identify before engaging the target. Hence, its multi-mission capability can be employed anywhere against any aggressors with a storage shelf life exceeding 15 years and requiring no maintenance.
Future Trends
Future trends of development would be configuring multi mode sensors for ATGMs. Recent advances in tank innovation may be making the ATGMs less effective but the ATGM is a too effective weapon to be simply made useless by this new advancement. Whether the future ATGMs have a higher speed or deploy countermeasures, it is almost certain that they will adapt and remain the terror of the tank.
Reference Text/Photo:www.saabgroup.com,www.diehl.com,www.lockheedmartin.com,www.mbda-systems.com,www.marketsandmarkets.com,www.raytheon.com
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