Swingfire
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
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| Swingfire | |||
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| Type | Anti-tank | ||
| Nationality | UK | ||
| Era | Cold War | ||
| Platform | Vehicle | ||
| Target | Vehicle | ||
| History | |||
| Builder | |||
| Date of design | |||
| Production period | |||
| Service duration | |||
| Operators | UK, Belgium | ||
| War service | |||
| Specifications | |||
| Type | |||
| Diameter | 0.17 | ||
| Length | 1.07 m | ||
| Weight | 27 kg kg | ||
| Speed | ~300 mph | ||
| Range | 150 - 4000 m | ||
| Warhead | HEAT weight unknown. | ||
| Propulsion | Rocket, | ||
| Steering | {{{steering}} | ||
| Guidance | Wire, Manual line of sight | ||
| Variants | none | ||
| Number built | |||
Swingfire is a wire-guided anti-tank missile in service with the British Army.
| Contents |
History
Swingfire replaced the Vickers Vigilant missile in British service. It was a product of both its predecessor Vigilant and the experimental Orange William missile.
The name comes from the ability of the missile to make a rapid turn of up to ninety degrees after firing to bring it onto the line of the sighting mechanism. This means that the launcher vehicle can be concealed and the operator using a portable sight placed at a distance in a more advantageous firing position.
A major review and procurement process was instituted in the late 90's to update the British Army's entire anti-armour weapon systems, the canidates as the replacement for Swingfire included Hellfire, Starstreak and LOSAT.
Specification
- Diameter: 0.17 m
- Length: 1.07 m
- Weight: 27 kg
- Warhead: not known
- Range: 150m to 4000m
- Velocity 26 seconds to 4000 metres (approx 300 mph)
- Guidance: Wire-guided MCLOS with Thrust Vectored Control (TVC)
- Penetration: 800 mm RHA
Use
British Army
- FV102 Striker - 5 in ready-to-fire bins.
- FV 438 - Two firing bins
- Ferret Mk 5 - Four firing bins.
Belgian Army
See also
External links
- RAF Museum (http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford/collections/missiles/missile_info.cfm?missile_id=32)
- Global Defence (http://www.global-defence.com/2002/weap-antitank.html)
