In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets. Missiles have five system components: targeting, guidance system, flight system, engine, and warhead. Missiles come in types adapted for different purposes: surface-to-surface and air-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles, and anti-satellite weapons.
An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder-launched weapons, which can be transported by a single soldier, to larger tripod-mounted weapons, which require a squad or team to transport and fire, to vehicle and aircraft mounted missile systems.
Semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) is a method of missile command guidance. In SACLOS, the operator must continually point a sighting device at the target while the missile is in flight. Electronics in the sighting device and/or the missile then guide it to the target.
The Malkara was one of the earliest guided anti-tank missiles (ATGMs). It was jointly developed by Australia and the United Kingdom between 1951 and 1954, and was in service from 1958 until gradually replaced by the Vickers Vigilant missile in the late 1960s. It was intended to be light enough to deploy with airborne forces, yet powerful enough to knock out any tank then in service. The basic form was later adapted for the short-range surface-to-air role as the Seacat and influenced the development of the Ikara.
The HJ-8 or Hongjian-8 is a second generation tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missile system which was originally deployed by the People's Liberation Army since the late 1980s.
The 9M120 Ataka is an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) originating from the Soviet Union. The NATO reporting name of the 9M120 missile is the AT-9 Spiral-2. It is the next major generation in the 9K114 Shturm family. The missile has radio command guidance and is also a beam riding SACLOS. This missile's primary variant was designed to defeat tanks with composite armour and explosive reactive armor. The 9M120 Ataka system is often confused with the 9K121 Vikhr system, despite being different weapons systems developed by different companies. The former was designed by the KBM machine-building design bureau and manufactured by the Degtyarev plant. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia exported the Ataka ATGM to Iran, Kazakhstan, and Slovenia.
MT-12 or 2A29 is a Soviet smoothbore 100-mm anti-tank gun, which served as the primary towed anti-tank artillery in the Soviet army from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. It is in significant use in the Russo-Ukrainian War (2014-present).
The 9K120 Svir, 9K119 Refleks, 9K119M Refleks-M are laser beam riding, guided anti-tank missile systems developed in the Soviet Union. Both are designed to be fired from smoothbore 125 mm tank and anti-tank guns. The name Svir comes from the River Svir, while Refleks means reflex.
The 9M117 Bastion is a Soviet laser beam-riding anti-tank missile. It is used in a number of separate weapon systems, including the 9K116-1 Bastion missile system, 9K118 Sheksna, T-12 anti-tank gun and the 3UBK12 fired from the BMP-3. The 100 mm projectile entered service in 1981.
The 9M123 Khrizantema is a Russian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). Khrizantema was designed to deal with current and future generations of main battle tanks and can also be used to engage slow and low flying aerial targets like helicopters. The 9M123 missile, and its associated guidance system, forms the 9K123 missile system.
The ZT3 Ingwe (Leopard) is a modern South African multi-role laser beam riding anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) manufactured by Denel Dynamics.
The HJ-9, HongJian-9, military designation AFT-9, is an advanced, third-generation, man-portable or vehicle-mounted anti-tank guided missile system deployed by the People's Liberation Army Ground Force.
The Nimrod is a long-range air-to-surface missile developed by Israel Aerospace Industries. While designed for mainly anti-tank warfare, it provides standoff strike ability against a variety of point targets such as armoured personnel carriers (APCs), ships, bunkers, personnel concentrations, and guerrillas.
HJ-10 is a Chinese ground-launched anti-tank missile developed by Norinco. It has a tandem high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead, that may penetrate 1,400 mm (55 in) of conventional steel armour protected by explosive reactive armour. The maximum range is 10 km (6.2 mi), with pre- or post-launch lock-on.
The DRDO Anti-Tank Missile is a first generation wire-guided anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) developed in India by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), a part of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It has a subsonic speed up to 300 ft/s (91 m/s) with a range of 1.6 km (0.99 mi) and carries a 106 mm high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead.
Man-portable anti-tank systems are traditionally portable shoulder-launched projectile systems firing heavy shell-type projectiles, typically designed to combat protected targets, such as armoured vehicles, field fortifications and at times even low-flying aircraft.
The RK-3 Corsar is a Ukrainian portable anti-tank guided missile developed by Luch State Kyiv Design Bureau.
The Hongjian-12 is a third generation, man-portable, fire-and-forget infrared homing anti-tank missile of China. It was unveiled at the Eurosatory 2014 exhibition.
The Skif, also known as the Stugna-P or Stuhna-P, is a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system developed in the early 2010s by the Luch Design Bureau, a unit of UkrOboronProm. The initial guidance device PN-S (ПН-С) of the Skif was developed and manufactured by Belarusian design bureau Peleng based in Minsk.
The AT-1K Raybolt is a South Korean man-portable third-generation anti-tank guided missile built by LIG Nex1. It has fire-and-forget capability using an infrared imaging seeker and has a tandem-warhead to defeat explosive reactive armor. The Raybolt has a top attack and direct attack modes. It is the first ATGM to be built by South Korea and entered mass production in June 2017.
