Alcotan-100 licence to shoot.

The Instalaza Alcotan-100 dual-purpose warhead, shoulder-fired weapon system received its system type-classification stamp of approval a few days ago, following two months of qualifying tests at several Spanish Ministry of Defence firing ranges. Developed and built to Stanag and Mil-Std specifications, the Alcotan-100 is based on the Davies counter-mass principle with soft launch for firing from confined areas. The tests, which involved a 100mm dual-purpose anti-armour/anti-personnel warhead, were aimed at validating the overall concept which involves the Vosel fire control unit with integrated dual-channel day/night vision capability and a laser rangefinder. A tri-axial sensor detects angular displacements of the target which enables the fire control unit to present the gunner with a corrected aiming point that takes target motion into account, thus providing a very high single-shot hit probability. Two other warheads are also being developed--a tandem anti-tank type designed in co-operation with Ruag, and an anti-bunker type. Instalaza has also developed two training systems for the Alcotan-100, one being a computer-based simulator for indoor training whilst the other, for field training, involves a sub-calibre device.